V^Jfc 


mm 


JAPAN 


AND   HER   PEOPLE 


BY 

ANNA  C.   HARTSHORNE 


ILLUSTRATED 


IN  TWO  VOLUMES 
VOL.  I 


THE  INTERNATIONAL  PRESS 

THE  JOHN  C.  WINSTON  CO. 

PHILADELPHIA 


Copyright, 

HENRY  T.   COATES  &  CO. 

1902. 


TO 

CHARLES  HARTSHORNE, 

BEST  OF  UNCLES  AND  MOST  DELIGHTFUL  OF  TRAVELING  COMPANIONS, 

WHO  CAME  FAB  TO  MAKE  HER   LAST   WEEKS   IN   JAPAN 

A  HAPPY  MEMORY, 

HIS  NIECE  AFFECTIONATELY   DEDICATES  THIS  BOOK. 

A.  C.  H. 

Philadelphia,  1902. 


PREFACE. 


Every  one  who  goes  to  Japan  writes  home  at  first 
on  thin  Japanese  paper,  unfolding  yard  after  yard  of 
the  neat  rolls,  and  measuring  now  and  then,  perhaps,  to 
see  how  much  one  really  has  written.  That  is  in  the 
early  days,  when  all  seems  half  unreal,  when  one  says 
"  fairy  like  "  and  "  funny "  at  every  other  breath. 
But  just  because  everything  is  so  different,  so  utterly 
unlike  all  we  have  ever  known,  that  former  life  itself 
seems  presently  to  recede,  to  grow  unreal ;  we  cease  to 
wonder,  cease  to  find  anything  strange  at  all.  Then 
the  long  letters  drop  to  a  page  or  two,  and  in  writing 
of  the  simplest  experiences  of  daily  life  we  stop  to 
think  half  despairingly,  "  How  shall  I  make  them 
understand "?" 

Out  of  that  effort  to  be  understood,  and  from  the 
answers  to  the  questions  so  frequently  asked  here  in 
America,  these  rambling  pages  have  grown.     If  they 


vi  PREFACE. 

have  any  value,  it  is  due  to  the  patient  teaching  of 
friends  during  three  happy  years  in  Japan ;  most, 
among  many,  to  Miss  Ume  Tsuda,  of  Tokyo,  and  to 
Dr.  Inazo  Nitobe,  whose  suggestions  and  supervision 
of  a  large  portion  have  made  the  attempt  possible. 
Of  books,  Chamberlain's  (Murray's)  "  Handbook  "  and 
his  "  Things  Japanese "  have  been  always  at  hand 
since  I  first  began  to  know  a  little  of  Japan ;  in  his- 
tory I  have  followed  especially  Mis.  de  la  Mazeliere's 
"  Histoire  du  Japon,"  and  the  "  History  of  the  Em- 
pire of  Japan,"  published  by  the  (Japanese)  Board  of 
Education  for  the  Chicago  Exposition ;  in  art,  Fenol- 
losa  and  La  Farge ;  in  literature,  Aston,  with  others 
who  are  referred  to  here  and  there. 

To  all  my  thanks  are  due ;  to  all,  but  especially 
to  those — whether  of  our  own  race  or  another — who 
made  for  me  and  mine  a  place  and  home,  in  a  land 
not  ours. 

Philadelphia,  January,  1902. 


CONTENTS 

VOLUME   1 


CHAPTER  I. 

PAGB 

Introduction, l 


CHAPTER  II. 
Voyage  and  First  Impressions, 13 


CHAPTER  III. 
Yokohama, 21 


CHAPTER  IV. 
History— The  Dawn  and  the  Middle  Ages,  ...     35 

CHAPTER  V. 
The  Tokugawa  and  the  Restoration,      ....     49 

CHAPTER  VI. 
Kamakura-A  Forsaken  City, 64 

CHAPTER  VII. 
Enoshima, 83 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
A  Japanese  Inn, 91 

CHAPTER  IX. 

From  Yokohama  to  Tokyo, 104 

vii 


viii  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  X. 

PAGE 

Tokyo— The  Castle  and  the  City, 113 

CHAPTER  XL 
Tokyo  Streets, 144 

CHAPTER  XII. 
A  Japanese  Household, 168 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
Ikegami— A  Typical  Buddhist  Temple 192 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
Oji  Maples, 208 

CHAPTER  XV. 
Karuizawa  and  the  West  Coast, 227 

CHAPTER  XVI. 
Ikao, 246 

CHAPTER  XVII. 
Nikko— The  Shrines  of  the  Shoguns,      .       .       .       .270 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 
Nikko  and  Lake  Chuzenji, 291 

CHAPTER  XIX. 
Sendai  and  Matsushima, 304 

CHAPTER  XX. 
The  Oshiu  Kaido, 328 

CHAPTER  XXI. 
The  Hokkaido, 354 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

VOLUME   I 


Photogravures  made  by  Gilbo  &  Co. 


PAGE 

Great  Gate,  Nikko, Frontispiece. 

JlNRIKISHA, 18 

The  Hundred  Steps, 24 

Blind  Shampooer, 34 

Cryptomeria  Avenue, 42 

Gate  of  Nobles  House, 54 

River  Front,  Tokyo, 62 

Daibutsu, 74 

The  Kitchen, 92 

Cutting  Rice, 1(^> 

Vegetable  Seller, 110 

Ataga  Yama, 118 

Gate  of  Temple,  Shiba, 138 

Street  Vender, I58 

Washing  Day, ^4 

ix 


X 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PAGE 

Priest, 198 

Uyeno  Park, 208 

Palace  Garden,  Oji, 220 

Street  of  Ikao, 240 

Buddhist  Temple,  Nikko, 274 

Sacred  Stable, 284 

The  Daiyagawa, 300 

Matsushima, 322 

Pack  Horse, 348 

Hakodate, 358 


JAPAN  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 


CHAPTER    I. 

INTRODUCTION. 

Nowadays  a  journey  to  Japan  is  not  at  all  a 
formidable  matter;  there  are  already  six  steamship 
lines  crossing  the  Pacific,  their  voyages  ranging  from 
twelve  days  to  three  weeks,  and  once  across  travel  is 
little  more  fatiguing  than  in  Germany  or  Italy,  and  far 
less  so  from  all  accounts  than  in  Spain.  The  chief 
difficulty  for  Americans  seems  to  be  to  find  out  before- 
hand what  to  expect  in  the  way  of  climate  and  physi- 
cal conditions  ;  when  to  go  ;  what  to  take  and  what  to 
leave  behind  ;  what  there  is  to  see  and  how  much 
time  is  needed  to  see  it. 

The  seasons  largely  control  the  choice  of  routes,  the 
northern  lines  being  most  desirable  for  summer  and 
early  fall,  the  San  Francisco  ones  for  winter  and 
March  or  April.  The  very  best  months  in  Japan,  so 
far  as  weather  goes,  are  October  and  November,  and 
even  most  of  December  ;  the  next  best  March  to  early 
June.  Winter  is  short  and  sharp,  a  good  deal  like 
Vol.  L-l 


2  JAPAN. 

Southern  Italy,  and  equally  uncertain  as  to  tempera- 
ture and  sunshine  ;  summer  hot  and  wet  (except  in  the 
northern  island,  Yezo),  especially  in  August  and  Sep- 
tember, when  there  are  the  severest  storms  and  a 
heavy,  muggy  atmosphere. 

Was  it  a  Londoner  or  a  Philadelphian  who  said  of 
his  birthplace,  "  We  don't  have  climate  here ;  we  have 
weather?"  Thanks  to  the  monsoons,  Japan  gets 
both  ;  that  is  to  say,  from  June  to  October  the  wind 
is  mostly  south  and  wet,  from  October  to  May  north- 
west and  dry,  with  a  lively  period  of  unsettlement 
between  changes.  This  brings  the  rain  in  June,  just 
when  it  is  needed  for  the  rice,  and  blows  it  away  at 
harvest  time.  Between  the  summer  rains  come  bursts 
of  hot  sunlight,  and  everybody  airs  their  houses  and 
closets,  and  whatever  is  not  already  well  dried  and  put 
away  in  air-tight  chests ;  for  no  amount  of  care  Avill 
save  kid  gloves  and  leather-bound  books  from  spotting 
if  they  are  left  out  in  the  moist  heat. 

After  all,  neither  cold  nor  heat  is  extreme,  but  the 
dampness  makes  both  rather  trying  to  foreigners — 
that  is  to  say,  to  non-Japanese.  Americans  miss  their 
steam-heated  houses,  and  shiver  through  a  Tokyo 
February  as  if  they  were  in  Rome  or  Naples.  But 
by  a  second  winter,  if  they  will  stay  on,  they  will 
learn  to  keep  the  house  well  open,  wear  warm  cloth- 
ing and  depend  on  the  sunshine,  which  never  fails  on 
really  cold  days,  for  the  occasional  winter  rains  are  as 
warm  as  the  May  showers  are  chilly.     Even  August 


O 


INTRODUCTION.  3 

and  September  need  not  alarm  any  one  used  to  Ameri- 
can summers,  for  foreign  residents  pass  them  comfort- 
ably enough  at  the  sea  or  mountain  resorts,  only  it  will 
not  do  to  undertake  much  exertion  or  long  journeys; 
the  heat  is  relaxing,  and  the  rains  make  the  roads 
heavy  or  even  impassable,  while  trains  are  liable  to  be 
detained  by  floods  or  broken  embankments. 

Just  one  caution  needs  to  be  writ  large — namelv, 
drink  no  unboiled  water  unless  you  know  where  it 
came  from,  and  that  no  rice  field  has  had  a  chance  to 
drain  into  it.  Remember  that  the  Japanese  do  not 
drink  cold  water,  and  are  consequently  indifferent 
about  keeping  it  pure ;  even  ice  is  risky  ;  but  keeping 
this  rule  means  health  throughout  the  country  at  any 
time  of  year. 

Spring,  then,  for  the  blossoms,  for  weather  always 
uncertain  and  usually  lovely,  for  that  delight  of  new 
life  felt  so  strongly  in  the  south,  and  nowhere  more 
keenly  than  in  Japan ;  but  autumn — October  till 
Christmas — for  a  prolonged  Indian  summer,  a  season 
of  unfailing  sunshine  and  dreamy  light,  of  frosty 
nights  and  still  days,  of  rice-harvest  and  chrysanthe- 
mums and  brilliant  maples.  Nine  months  in  the  year 
ladies  need  cotton  or  thin  silk  blouses  for  the  day,  and 
a  wrap,  not  too  thin,  the  moment  the  sun  goes  down  ; 
even  in  summer  light  woolen  underclothes  are  needed 
on  account  of  the  dampness,  and  after  Christmas  furs 
and  a  steamer  rug  are  necessities  for  long  jinrikisha 
rides  on  frosty  days. 


4  JAPAN. 

All  ordinary  European  clothing  and  personal  as 
well  as  household  goods  can  be  bought  in  Yokohama 
or  Kobe — not  in  Tokyo,  where  you  find  only  such 
"  foreign  "  things  as  the  Japanese  have  adopted  or 
adapted  for  their  own  use.  Prices  are  about  as  in 
America,  or  even  lower  for  the  present,  on  account  of 
lower  duties ;  so  it  is  better  not  to  burden  oneself  with 
extras.  Heavy  trunks,  if  brought  over  at  all,  had 
better  be  stored  on  first  landing,  and  only  such  small 
pieces  taken  along  as  can  be  piled  on  a  jinrikisha  and 
easily  handled.  In  case  of  leaving  from  a  different 
port,  a  shipping  agent  will  take  everything  in  charge 
and  have  it  put  on  the  proper  steamer. 

People  who  wish  to  be  spared  all  trouble  join  one 
of  Cook's  or  Raymond's  parties,  which  go  usually  in 
the  spring  and  fall,  mostly  in  round-the-world  tours, 
giving  about  a  month  to  Japan ;  or  engage  a  guide  on 
arriving,  who  will  act  as  courier  and  plan  everything 
if  desired.  A  month  is  the  ordinary  tourist  allow- 
ance, and  it  is  just  enough  to  get  around  the  more  im- 
portant sights,  probably  not  more  hastily  than  most 
travelers  go  through  Europe.  There  is  this  difference 
though,  that  while  Europeans  and  Americans  know  a 
great  deal  about  each  other  beforehand,  and  their  civi- 
lization is  practically  one  throughout,  East  and  West 
have  no  such  common  inheritance,  no  sueh  knowledge 
of  each  other's  heroes  and  ideals,  and  they  cannot  at  a 
glance  understand  one  another.  Therefore,  it  is  well 
worth  an  effort  to  read  up  a  little  beforehand,  for  to 


INTRODUCTION.  5 

those  who  do  not,  much  of  Japan  must  be  quite  mean- 
ingless, and  either  "  how  funny  !"  or  "  how  absurd  !" 
Books  are  plenty  enough  ;  for  instance,  Miss  Scid- 
more's  "  Jinrikisha  Days/'  Mitford's  "Tales  of  Old 
Japan,"  GrimV  "Mikado's  Empire,"  Lafcadio  Beam's 
books,  and  among  the  latest  and  best  Mrs.  Hugh 
Fraser's  delightful  "Letters  from  Japan"  and  "The 
Custom  of  the  Country."  These  are  a  few  out  of 
many  that  serve  well  to  beguile  cross-continent  jour- 
ney and  voyage,  while  Chamberlain's  "  Murray  " 
(there  is  no  "  Baedeker  ")  and  his  "  Things  Japanese" 
are  inseparable  necessary  companions  on  the  spot,  and 
such  works  as  Rein's  "  Industries  of  Japan "  and 
others  of  the  heavier  sort  become  most  interesting  for 
reference. 

The  (London)  Traveller  for  August,  1900,  gives  an 
apt  piece  of  advice — namely :  "  No  tourist  visiting 
Japan  should  fail  to  put  himself  in  touch  with  the 
Kihin-kai,  or  Welcome  Society,  which,  for  a  nominal 
fee,  will  very  materially  assist  him  in  traveling  and 
sight-seeing  in  the  islands  of  Japan.  The  Society, 
which  was  formed  in  1893  on  the  initiative  of  certain 
Japanese  noblemen  and  distinguished  foreign  residents, 
will  supply  the  traveler  with  trustworthy  guides,  see 
that  he  is  not  cheated  by  innkeepers  and  others,  put 
him  in  the  way  of  obtaining  genuine  objets  tVart,  if 
such  be  his  desire,  besides,  by  virtue  of  its  special 
privileges,  passing  him  into  government  buildings, 
imperial  gardens  and   many  other  places  of  special 


,;  JAPAN. 

interest  where  it  would  be  quite  impossible  for  him  to 
gain  admittance  as  a  stranger." 

The  Canadian  Pacific  steamers  sail  from  Vancouver, 
the  Northern  Pacific  from  Tacoma,  the  Japan  Steam- 
ship Company  (Nippon  Yusen  Kaisha)  from  Seattle, 
connecting  with  the  Great  Northern  Railroad,  the  Pa- 
cific Mail,  Occidental  and  Oriental,  and  Toyo  Kisen 
Kaisha  (Orient  Line)  from  San  Francisco.  All  make 
through  tickets  or  returns  in  connection  with  the 
transcontinental  railroads  at  nearly  uniform  rates. 
Accommodations  compare  very  fairly  with  the  average 
Atlantic  lines  ;  some  arrangements  may  be  less  elab- 
orate, but  the  quick,  silent  Chinese  and  Japanese 
"  boys "  furnish  a  better  and  far  more  ready  service 
than  the  high-minded  and  high-tipped  stewards  who 
rule  the  other  sea.  All  the  steamers  of  the  San  Fran- 
cisco lines  now  call  at  Honolulu,  making  a  weekly 
service  between  them,  and  their  tickets  are  inter- 
changeable, allowing  you  to  stop  over  one  or  more 
trips  if  you  wish.  The  steamers  usually  stay  about 
twenty-four  hours  in  port  at  the  Sandwich  Islands, 
giving  time  for  a  run  ashore  and  a  glimpse  of  the 
tropics.  The  voyage  by  Honolulu  is  never  too  cold, 
but  is  sometimes  too  hot,  and  this  fact,  as  well  as  the 
shorter  voyage — twelve  days  against  eighteen — sends 
many  travelers  to  the  Canadian  route,  which  is  always 
cool,  often  cold  and — well,  just  as  likely  to  be  rough 
as  any  other  soa  voyage.  But  of  these  matters  the 
steamship  companies  and  railroad  offices  will  cheerfully 


INTRODUCTION.  7 

supply  all  particulars,  corrected  to  date,  and  present 
beside  a  whole  library  of  maps  and  illustrated  folders; 
while,  on  the  other  side,  hotel  runners  meet  the 
steamers  and  attend  to  all  the  details  of  your  going 
ashore.  Indeed,  if  you  permit  him,  the  hotel  runner 
will  take  you  in  hand  and  pass  you  safely  and  happily 
from  one  to  another  of  his  fellows  throughout  the 
length  and  breadth  of  Japan. 

As  for  the  country,  the  Japanese  say  it  is  a  huge 
catfish,  with  his  tail  down  at  Kiushiu  and  his  head 
up  at  Yezo,  and  a  backbone  of  mountains  running 
through,  and  when  he  wriggles  people  say  there  is  an 
earthquake.  Moreover,  at  the  Imperial  University 
in  Tokyo,  and  in  caves  and  on  mountains,  Prof.  John 
Milne  and  his  clever  followers  have  set  their  delicate 
seismological  instruments,  mapping  down  every  jump 
and  every  quiver  of  the  big  volcanic  heart ;  and  they 
tell  us  that  whereas  the  earth's  crust  is  never  quite 
still,  Japan,  being  rather  new,  is  one  of  the  thinnest 
and  shakiest  parts.  However  that  may  be,  small 
earthquakes  come  very  often,  and  volcanoes  are  much 
in  evidence,  though  most  of  them,  like  Fuji,  are  no 
longer  active ;  and  the  fish  is  a  very  big  fish,  some 
fifteen  hundred  miles  from  tip  to  tip,  and  that  without 
counting  in  the  Kuriles,  all  ice  and  fire,  or  the  Lu 
Chu  Islands  and  Formosa,  reaching  nearly  down  to 
our  vexed  Philippines.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
country  is  very  narrow,  nowhere  above  two  hundred 
miles  across  from  sea  to  sea;  a  strip  of  the  Atlantic 


8  JAPAN. 

coast  from  Maine  to  Florida,  taking  in  most  of  the 
New  England  States,  New  Jersey,  Maryland,  and  so 
on  down,  would  be  much  the  size  and  shape  of  Japan. 
But  the  strip  would  have  to  be  sliced  up  into  islands ; 
Yezo  at  the  north,  then  the  main  island,  Honda  or 
Nippon,  reaching  from  Boston  nearly  to  Charleston, 
and  the  rest  into  five  large  and  any  number  of  small 
and  still  smaller  islets,  with  the  Inland  Sea  locked  in 
among  them.  The  upper  half  of  the  strip  trends 
north  and  south  ;  the  lower  takes  a  sudden  turn  near 
the  middle  of  the  main  island,  and  sweeps  off  to  the 
west  and  a  very  little  south,  so  that  Nagasaki,  in 
southern  Kiushiu,  is  only  three  degrees  of  latitude 
below  Tokyo.  Consequently  more  than  half  the  coast 
on  the  Pacific  side  lies  open  to  the  south  and  the 
warm  Black  Current — the  Gulf  Stream  of  Asia — while 
the  mountains  form  a  break  against  the  chill  winds 
that  blow  down  from  Siberia,  and  make  the  west 
coast  dreary  and  desolate.  The  result  is  a  climate 
much  like  Southern  Europe  for  all  the  lower  half  of 
the  country,  a  little  warmer  at  Nagasaki,  a  little  colder 
in  Tokyo ;  and  only  when  you  get  some  two  hundred 
miles  further  north,  say  at  Sendai,  the  change  to  more 
temperate  conditions  begins.  And,  in  fact,  till  nearly 
the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century  all  north  of 
Sendai  was  pretty  much  left  to  the  aboriginal  Ainu ; 
as  for  Yezo,  it  belonged  to  them  and  the  bears,  except 
for  a  castle  town  or  two  and  a  few  squalid  fishing 
villages,  till  the  government  undertook  to  open  the 


INTRODUCTION.  9 

country  and  encourage  emigration,  some  thirty  years 
ago.  Now  colonists  go  up  by  forty  and  fifty  thou- 
sand a  year,  and  Hokkaido,  "  The  North  "  (literally, 
"Northern  Road"),  is  new,  enterprising,  and  on  the 
whole  prosperous,  very  American  and  very  unlike  the 
rest  of  Japan. 

From  end  to  end  the  whole  surface  of  the  country 
is  broken  up;  there  is  not  only  the  central  mountain 
chain,  but  peaks,  ridges,  tumbled  hills  everywhere. 
River  valleys  there  are,  some  wide,  and  a  jrreat  deal 
of  lowland  near  the  sea ;  two  true  plains  only — the 
great  stretch  north  of  Tokyo,  and  once  part  of  Yedo 
Bay,  and  the  region  south  of  Mount  Fuji — one  also  in 
the  Hokkaido.  There  are  no  towering  granite  cliffs, 
no  bold  and  awful  heights ;  thanks  to  a  light  soil  and 
abundant  rainfall,  Japanese  landscape  is  everywhere 
gentle,  varied  and  lovely,  full  of  wonderful  lines  and 
curves — curves,  most  of  them,  just  a  little  concave — 
"eine  der  zarteden  Linien,"  said  Grimm.  Such  are 
the  lines  of  Fuji  San,  the  mountain  of  mountains, 
that  will  always  get  into  one's  mental  background  at 
the  word  Japan.  As  for  the  coast  line,  not  even 
Greece  is  more  cut  and  jagged,  more  <leeply  folded 
into  promontories  and  bays  and  steep-sided  inlets. 

In  such  a  land  everything  grows  with  delight ; 
England  is  not  greener.  Mountain  ranges  and  head- 
lands are  heavily  wooded  with  chestnut  and  pine  and 
evergreen  oak,  and  a  dozen  kinds  of  maple,  gorgeous 
in   autumn  ;  oranges  flourish   in   the  south,  palmetto 


10  JAPAN. 

and  bamboo  as  far  north  as  Tokyo.  Tall  bamboo 
grass  roots  wherever  it  can  get  a  chance  ;  where  tim- 
ber has  been  burnt  off  the  hillsides,  and  through  the 
northern  provinces,  there  are  miles  of  snch  reedy 
waste,  empty  and  desolate  ;  for  barely  one-seventh  of 
the  whole  country  is  actually  under  cultivation.  Rice, 
of  course,  is  the  staple  crop,  and  it  must  be  irrigated  ; 
every  scrap  of  ground  that  can  be  leveled  and  have  a 
stream  turned  upon  it  is  dug  over  and  enriched,  and 
made  to  yield  to  the  uttermost — green  with  barley  all 
winter,  after  the  rice  has  been  gathered  in,  bordered 
with  beans  or  a  bit  of  yellow  rape  in  the  springtime. 
Wheat  is  grown,  especially  in  the  southern  provinces, 
a  good  deal  of  millet,  also  cotton,  flax  and  various 
vegetables.  Rice,  wheat,  beans,  millet  and  sorghum 
are  the  "  Five  Staples,"  Go-Koku,  of  Japanese 
writers.  Not  much  fodder  is  needed,  there  are  so  few 
animals ;  though  horses,  of  course,  there  were  and  are, 
for  the  knights  in  old  times,  for  the  rich  and  the  cav- 
alry now.  Cattle  are  used  only  for  draught,  and  that 
but  sparingly,  since  the  Japanese  are  not  flesh-eaters, 
and  even  milk  and  butter  are  innovations  they  have 
not  taken  to  very  much  ;  as  for  cheese,  they  feel  to- 
wards it  as  foreigners  do  to  dailcon,  the  huge  Japanese 
radish,  which  grows  two  feet  long  and  has  flavor  and 
scent  in  proportion.  That  merry  engineer,  Holtham, 
calls  the  daikon  "a  most  ingenious  pickle,"  for.  he 
declares,  after  once  getting  its  flavor  well  over  your 
mouth,  you  will  eat  anything  to  get  rid  of  the  taste ! 


INTRODUCTION.  11 

A  railroad  runs  the  length  of  the  main  island,  and 
a  yearlv  increasing  network  of  branch  lines  connects 
it  with  the  west  coast  and  the  more  important  cities, 
aml  beyond  the  Strait  of  Shimonoseki  down  through 
Kiushiu.     At   the    northern   end    a   line  of  steamers 
connects  across  in  eight  hours  to  Hakodate  ami  the 
Hokkaido  lines,  all  well  patronized,  for  the  Japanese 
are  indefatigable  travelers.     The  railroad  tickets  are 
printed  both  in   English  and  Japanese,  and  must  he 
shown  at  the  gate,  as  well  as  when  baggage  is  checked. 
Sixty  to  eighty  pounds  of  free  baggage  is  allowed, 
and 'the  system   of  registering  is  like  the  European 
one— that  is  to  say,  you  receive  a  paper  check,  stamped 
with  the  number  and  weight  of  your  pieces,  which  is 
of  course  given  up  when  you  claim  your  goods  at  the 
end  of  the  journey. 

Except  the  Hokkaido  lino,  which  is  on  the  Amer- 
ican plan,  Japanese  railroads  are  built  and  run  on  the 
English  system,  except  that   many  carriages  are  not 
divided  into  compartments,  but  have  long  seats  down 
the  sides  and  across  the  ends.     This  is  more  comfort- 
able to  the  people,  who  are  not  used  to  chairs,  and 
soon  get  tired  of  sitting  up  straight,  so  stretch  at  full 
length  if  there  is  room,  or  drop  their  clogs  and  tuck 
their  feet  under  them.     The  foreigner  may  be  tempted 
to  envy  of  a  frosty  morning,  as  he  taps  his  boots  on 
the  hot-water  tin-sole  means  of  heating-and  w.shes 
a  little  warmth  would  reach  his  chilly  toes.    Sleeping- 
cars  are  being  introduced  very  gradually,  and  without 


12  JAPAX 

them  travel  at  night  is  an  uncertain  pleasure.  If  the 
train  is  not  full,  well  and  good — blow  up  your  air- 
cushion,  tuck  in  your  rug  and  join  the  chorus  of 
snores.  Nine  journeys  in  ten  there  will  be  room  to  lie 
down,  but  the  tenth  will  not  be  a  restful  experience. 
As  to  washing  possibilities  en  route,  the  outlook  is  at 
least  as  good  as  on  European  corridor  trains,  perhaps 
better.  But  food  for  Westerners  there  is  none — no 
dining-car,  not  even  a  station  restaurant;  instead,  men 
parade  the  platforms  with  tea — Japanese,  of  course — 
and  neat  wooden  boxes,  each  with  a  new  pair  of  chop- 
sticks on  top.  For  a  fewT  sen  (cents)  they  will  leave 
you  a  pot  of  tea  and  a  cup,  or  pour  hot  water  on  your 
own  brew ;  the  box  costs  some  ten  sen,  and  contains 
rice  and  pickles  and  other  dainties,  toothsome  enough 
for  those  to  the  manner  born;  but  let  not  the  unwary 
Western  traveler  set  his  hopes  thereon ;  he  will  reach 
his  destination  empty  and  sorrowful,  and  next  time 
will  accept  the  offer  of  a  chicken  sandwich  from  his 
hotel. 

This  is  not  to  discourage  any  from  trying  to  like 
Japanese  food ;  but  that  is  an  art  to  be  studied  with 
care  at  a  good  tea  house,  not  begun  on  a  boxful  of 
rice  and  cold  fish,  of  which  more  anon.  Let  us  first 
consider  how  to  reach  the  empire. 


CHAPTER   II. 

VOYAGE   AND    FIRST   IMPRESSIONS. 

Concerning  voyages,  for  most  people,  probably 
"  least  said  soonest  mended."  After  all,  it  is  but  a 
three  weeks'  affair  at  longest,  made  as  pleasant  as  pos- 
sible by  courteous  and  obliging  officers,  by  cricket 
matches  and  chess  tournaments,  concerts  and  mock 
trials,  a  dance  on  deck  or  even  a  magic  lantern  exhibi- 
tion some  still  evening.  There  is  something  almost 
uncanny  about  the  gay  life  on  board,  particularly  at 
night — the  bright  saloon,  the  music  and  the  evening 
dresses,  out  there  in  the  midst  of  that  great  lonely 
ocean,  where  in  weeks  you  may  scarcely  sight  another 
trail  of  smoke.  For  the  Pacific  is  no  such  frequented 
highway  as  the  Atlantic,  at  least  as  yet ;  birds  though 
there  are,  beautiful  gray  and  white  gulls,  and  Mother 
Carey's  chickens,  and  the  broad-winged  frigate  bird, 
wheeling  and  dipping  like  Homer's  sea  fowl — 

"  Who  through  dread  troughs  of  the  unharvested  brine, 
Seeking  his  prey,  drenches  dark  wings  in  the  foam." 

The  steamers  which  come  from  the  northern  ports 
sight  first  the  lighthouse  on  a  certain  mountain  island 

13 


14  JAPAN. 

called  Kinkwazan,  standing  in  just  near   enough  to 
signal  and  be  reported,  and  then  run  down  for  another 
fifteen  hours  near,  but  not  in  sight  of,  the  coast,  till 
they  reach  the  headland  of  Awa  at  the  mouth  of  Yedo 
Bay.     On  the  other  hand,  the  lines  touching  at  Hono- 
lulu come   in  from  nearly  due  east,   and   their  first 
indication  of  land  is  the  thickening  flock  of  fishing 
boats,  with  high  stern  and  square  mat  or  canvas  sails, 
and  the  thin  line  of  smoke  from  the  never-resting  vol- 
cano on  Oshima  or  Vries  Island,  first  and  largest  of  a 
chain  of  islands  stretching  southward  from  the  mouth 
of  Yedo  Bay.     These  islands  figure  in  Japanese  his- 
tory and  romance  as  places  of  banishment  for  crimi- 
nals, usually  political  ones,  the  tale  often  turning  on 
some    marvelous  escape   or  on  a  pardon   and  recall. 
They  were  used  for  this  purpose  from  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury quite  down  to  modern  times.     All  are  mountain- 
ous and  wild,  and  little  visited  now,  supporting  only 
a  few  villages  of  fisher  folk.     Leaving  Oshima  to  the 
south  and  rounding  Awa,  you  steam  across  a  corner 
of  Sagami  Bay  into  the  Uraga  Channel,  and  so  into 
Yedo    Bay  proper.     The   shores   here   are   low   and 
green,  especially  to  the  right,  where,  except  for  the 
bold  headland  at  its  end,  all  the  peninsula  is  flat  and 
sandy   nearly   to   Mount  Tsukuba,   sixty  or  seventy 
miles  north.     According  to  tradition,  the  creator  god, 
Iwanagi,  piled  up  Awa  to  keep  off  the  beat  of  the 
ocean,  and   curiously  enough  the  geologists  say   the 
story  agrees  quite  closely  with  the  facts,  since  only 


VOYAGE  AND  FIRST  IMPRESSIONS.  15 

the  promontory  is  old,  the  rest  being  of  recent  forma- 
tion, a  part  of  the  great  plain  north  of  Tokyo  which 
was  once  covered  by  the  sea.  Westward  is  a  steeper 
and  more  broken  shore  line,  backed  by  the  Hakone 
mountains,  rising  in  blue  zigzags  beyond  Sagami  Bay, 
and  above  them  still  the  matchless  cone  of  Fuji  seems 
to  float  out  of  a  sea  of  mist. 

On  the  left,  at  the  narrowest  part  of  the  channel,  is 
the  little  town  of  Uraga,  which  has  a  good  harbor  for 
small  vessels ;  in  feudal  times  it  was  a  place  of  much 
more  importance  than  now,  because  every  kind  of  craft 
entering  the  bay  had  to  stop  here  and  be  inspected  be- 
fore going  nearer  to  Yeclo — now  Tokyo — the  capital 
of  the  Shogun.  Under  this  rule,  the  guards  fired  on 
an  American  ship,  the  Morrison,  which  came  over 
from  China  in  1837  for  the  purpose  of  returning  some 
shipwrecked  Japanese,  and  incidentally  in  hopes  of  a 
chance  to  trade.  But  nobody  got  past  Uraga  till 
Commodore  Perry  landed  there  in  1853  with  the  let- 
ter from  the  President  of  the  United  States  which 
sprang  the  first  crack  in  Japan's  closed  door.  The 
consequences  of  that  opening  are  visible  all  along  the 
bay,  in  the  lighthouses,  the  modern  fortifications,  the 
biological  laboratory  at  Misaki — that  is  on  the  Sagami 
side,  though — and  the  naval  dock-yards  at  Yokosuka, 
just  around  the  corner.  The  French  built  these  by 
contract,  and  rather  hoped  to  keep  them  ;  but  Japan 
made  a  great  effort  and  paid  her  bill  in  time  to  escape 
a  foreclosure.     The  steamer's  course  bears  to  the  left 


16  JAPAN. 

now  along  the  west  shore,  leaving  half  the  bay  to  the 
north  in  a  wide  shallow  stretch  twenty  miles  long  by 
some  ten  across,  at  the  head  of  which  lies  Tokyo; 
and  so  on  by  little  Mississippi  Bay,  where  Perry 
anchored,  and  past  Treaty  Point  and  around  the  turn 
of  the  Bluff,  with  its  pretty  residences,  into  Yokohama 
harbor. 

Yokohama,  "  Cross  Strand,"  is  the  present  town ; 
but  every  one  knows  that  Kanagawa  opposite  was  the 
original  Concession.  This,  however,  turned  out  to  be 
an  unlucky  choice,  for  it  lay  directly  on  the  great  post 
road,  the  Tokaido,  along  which  the  Daimyos  were 
continually  passing  with  their  retainers.  Prince  and 
page  alike  were  haughty  and  overbearing,  despising 
the  foreigners,  who  looked  down  on  them  and  their 
old-world  glory  in  turn ;  there  were  endless  encounters 
and  difficulties,  culminating  finally  in  the  death  of  the 
Englishman  Richardson.  Never  mind  now  who  was 
most  to  blame ;  the  Japanese  government  was  keenly 
anxious  to  preserve  peace,  and  besought  the  unwel- 
come guests  to  remove  to  a  less  dangerous  situation. 
For  this  they  had  selected  the  mud  flat  on  the  other 
side  of  the  bay,  where  indeed  was  the  better  anchor- 
age for  large  vessels,  and  where  they  had  made  prepa- 
ration by  building  bridges  and  stone  breakwaters.  It 
was  not  precisely  an  inviting  place.  Black,  writing  a 
few  years  later,  describes  it  as  a  small,  sandy  level 
lying  between  the  sea  and  a  swamp,  which  separated 
it  from  the  cultivated  fields  farther  back,  and  flanked 


VOYAGE  AND  FIRST  IMPRESSIONS.  17 

by  hills,  from  which  it  was  again  cut  off  by  a  tidal 
creek  and  an  estuary ;  so  that  the  only  way  out  ou  the 
land  side  was  by  bridges,  provided  with  gates  and  a 
guard  of  Japanese  soldiers;  and  the  foreign  representa- 
tives feared  they  were  to  be  shut  off  from  intercourse 
with  the  people  as  effectually  as  the  Dutch  had  been 
on  the  island  of  Deshima  at  Nagasaki.  But  while 
they  hesitated,  the  traders  settled  the  question  by 
promptly  going  over  to  the  better  anchorage,  and  the 
dispute  ended  in  a  compromise,  by  which  the  Powers 
were  allowed  to  build  consulates  on  the  Kanagawa 
side  if  they  wished.  Naturally  the  privilege  was  not 
claimed,  and  the  one  survival  of  the  old  Concession 
is  in  the  official  name  of  Yokohama,  which  appears 
in  police  notices  and  the  like  as  "  Kanagawa  Prefect- 
ure." As  for  the  merchants,  they  settled  themselves 
firmly  and  built  shops  and  warehouses,  and  grew  and 
do  grow  and  prosper,  some  two  thousand  of  them,  be- 
sides a  host  of  Chinese. 

In  the  harbor  craft  of  all  kinds  abound,  from  the 
latest  modern  cruiser  to  a  weather-beaten  brown  sam- 
pan, a  sort  of  attenuated  dory,  guiltless  of  paint, 
seemingly  most  unsteady,  but  in  fact  strong  and  very 
seaworthy.  The  men  row  standing,  four,  six  or  more 
to  a  boat,  lithe,  brown  figures,  in  sleeveless  shirt  and 
all  but  legless  trousers;  they  face  sidewise,  pushing 
the  long  oars,  swaying  out  and  back  to  a  monotonous 
chant.     Yachts  and  pleasure  boats  lie  off  the  Bund ; 

trim   launches  skim  about;  tugs  and  colliers,  junks 
Vol.  I.- 2 


18  JAPAN. 

and  tramps  and  liners,  an  American  oil-tanker  and  a 
fine  coasting  steamer,  flying  the  sun-flag,  her  blue 
peter  at  her  mast.  And  the  throng  on  the  dock  is 
not  less  motley ;  neat  military-looking  policemen  and 
customs  officials,  blue-clad  porters  and  coolies — Far 
East  English  for  all  laborers — Japanese  tradesmen  or 
travelers  in  European  dress  or  their  own  long  sleeves, 
Chinese,  Americans,  Europeans  of  every  natiouality — 
a  Babel  of  tongues  and  an  epitome  of  New  Japan" 

The  Custom  House  formalities  are  precise,  but  not 
rigid,  and  these  over,  comes  the  sensation  for  which 
the  stranger  has  waited,  the  first  jinrikisha  ride.  The 
runner  sets  down  the  shafts  of  his  tiny  carriage,  you 
step  in  and  take  your  seat,  and  he  catches  up  the 
shafts  and  is  off  with  a  dash.  To  tell  the  truth,  the 
first  moments  are  not  unmixed  bliss  ;  it  takes  practice 
to  sit  easily,  and  to  feel  quite  sure  the  whole  thing  is 
not  going  over  backward.  The  motion  is  rather  like 
a  small  road-cart,  and  the  runner's  height  and  gait 
count  just  as  a  horse's  would ;  but  on  a  fairly  good 
road,  with  a  Jcurumaya  (jinrikisha  man)  who  runs 
steadily  and  holds  the  shafts  firmly  and  not  too  high, 
all  goes  comfortably  enough.  Kuruma,  "  vehicle,"  is, 
by  the  way,  the  preferred  Japanese  word,  whence 
Jcurumaya,  "  wheel-man,"  ya  being  originally  "a 
place,"  then  "the  one  at  a  place,"  "the  one  who 
does " — as  shinbunya,  the  newsboy ;  denpoya,  the 
telegraph  messenger.  "  Jinriki-sha,"  "  pnll-man  car," 
as  somebody  calls  it,  is  a  Chinese  combination  which 


VOYAGE  AND  FIRST  IMPRESSIONS.  19 

has   got   itself  adopted   thoroughly  in  English,   but 
somehow  does  not  seem  to  please  Japan. 

It  is  not  ten  minutes  from  the  landing-place  to  the 
Bund — Far  East  English  again — the  drive  along  the 
stone-faced  water   front,  where  the    hotels  and   club 
houses  are.     The  streets  are  even  more  of  a  medley 
than  the  dock ;  high,  ugly  warehouses,  the  big  cus- 
tom house,  the  post-office  tower,  flags  flying  over  con- 
sulates half-hidden  in  trees  and  shrubbery ;  beside  a 
bit  of  the  Japanese  part,  narrow  streets  of  low  wooden 
houses,  the  shop  fronts  open  and  displaying  tempting 
curios,    silks   and    photographs,   or    again    handbags, 
shoes,  hats  and   "  foreign  "  articles  of  various  utility 
and  universal  ugliness.     The  signs  are  irregular  and 
very  picturesque,  part  English,  droll  enough  some  of 
it,  part  Japanese,  written  in  square  Chinese  character, 
like  the  tea-boxes  of  our  youth,  or  the  bold,  flowing 
"  grass-hand."     There  is  not  much  color  on  the  street, 
since  only  small  children  dress  in  dashing  reds  and 
yellows  and  rainbow  mixtures;  such  gorgeous  raiment 
is  left  to  professional  dancers,  men  and  even  young 
women  keeping  to  quiet  shades,  except  where  girls 
show  a  peep  of  red  in  sleeve  and  petticoat,  a  bright 
fold  at  the  throat,  and,  to  make  up,  a  very  riot  of 
color  in  the  wide  sash.     Jinrikisha  men  and  coolies 
are   in  blue  cottou,  not  a  straight  gown,  but  tight- 
fitting  trousers  and  belted  jacket,  often  adorned  with 
huge   white    ideographs,    which    are   the   employer's 
name  or  trade-mark ;  round  their  heads  they  tie  blue 


20  JAPAN. 

and  white  handkerchiefs,  fillet  fashion — shade  of 
Praxiteles  !  was  this  the  realistic  version  of  the  Dia- 
duranos? — or  wear  a  round  straw  hat,  covered  with 
cotton  cloth,  like  a  big  white  mushroom.  Children 
swarm  everywhere,  at  least  half  of  them  carrying 
babies  on  their  backs,  which  does  not  seem  at  all  to 
interfere  with  tag  or  any  other  lively  amusement.  All 
is  stirring  and  busy,  not  shrill  like  Paris,  not  languid 
like  Naples,  nor  yet  anxious  and  struggling  like  New 
York.  A  really  pretty  face  in  the  crowd  is  rare; 
stern  ones  and  smiling  ones  both  plenty ;  an  unkind 
or  crabbed  look  rarest  of  all. 

Then  the  jinrikisha  spins  out  on  to  the  Bund,  with 
the  bay  on  one  side  and  the  houses  on  the  other,  to 
the  Club  or  the  Grand  or  the  Oriental  Hotel,  where 
everything  is  of  Europe  except  the  faces  of  clerks 
and  attendants,  and  where  you  may  almost  forget,  if 
you  will,  that  you  are  in  Dai  Nippon. 


CHAPTER   III. 

YOKOHAMA. 

It  is  difficult  to  deal  fairly  with  so  cosmopolitan  a 
place  as  Yokohama.  Speaking  broadly,  it  is  only 
one  of  a  number  of  European  settlements  in  the  Far 
East,  akin  to  all  the  rest  in  that  it  is  like  no  one 
country,  but  is  rather  a  coming  together  of  all  the 
nations  under  heaven  ;  less  English  than  Hong  Kong, 
smaller  than  Shanghai,  on  the  whole  more  American 
than  anything  else — particularly  on  the  Bluff,  where 
the  pretty  houses  might  belong  to  any  prosperous 
suburb  in  the  United  States.  That  it  is  not  strictly 
Japan  goes  without  saying — a  good  deal  less  so,  at 
least  till  lately,  than  San  Francisco's  Chinatown  is 
America — since  from  the  time  the  Concession  was 
granted  in  1854  till  the  Revised  Treaties  went  into 
effect  in  1898,  consular  jurisdiction  held  good,  and  an 
American  or  European  was  legally  in  his  own  country 
— tried,  if  he  sinned,  according  to  his  own  laws  and 
by  a  court  of  his  fellow-countrymen.  It  ought  to  be 
not  less  clear  that  it  is  unfair  to  judge  Japan  by  the 
specimens  of  Japanese  men  and  women  met  with 
here  and  in  other  treaty  ports;  but  unluckily  this 
piece  of  injustice  is  perpetrated  constantly   in    print 

21 


22  JAPAN. 

and  out  of  it.  This  is  not  the  place  to  enter  upon 
that  controversy;  see  rather  Stafford  Ransome's 
chapter  on  the  subject  in  his  much-criticised  "  Japan 
in  Transition,"  which,  when  all  has  been  said,  is  still 
one  of  the  most  unbiased  books  yet  written. 

Yokohama  makes  no  attempt  at  architectural 
beauty — indeed,  the  business  part  could  not  well  be 
uglier — but  it  has  an  air  of  solid  prosperity  never- 
theless. The  town  divides  naturally  into  two  por- 
tions, the  original  Concession,  still  known  as  the 
Settlement,  and  the  Bluif,  which  was  added  a  few 
years  later  for  residence  purposes.  The  swamp  of 
Black's  memory  has  long  since  been  drained  and  part 
of  it  turned  into  the  cricket  ground,  and  the  creek 
and  inlet  deepened  and  carried  around  through  the 
town  as  a  useful  waterway  for  small  shipping ;  while 
plenty  of  open  bridges  replace  the  two  guarded  en- 
trances. An  odd  feature  of  the  place  is  that  the 
names  of  streets  are  scarcely  used,  though  they  do 
exist ;  instead,  each  property  is  known  by  a  number, 
and  if  you  want  to  go  to  the  Grand  Hotel,  you  bid 
the  kurumaya  take  you  to  Number  20 ;  a  well-known 
girls'  school  is  212  Bluff,  and  so  on.  It  follows  that 
the  numerals — ichi,  ni,  san,  etc. — are  the  most  useful 
bit  of  language  that  a  stranger  can  acquire ;  but  the 
fact  is  a  very  little  Japanese  goes  a  long  way  in  Yoko- 
hama. They  do  say  that  foreigners  calling  on  the 
master  of  a  house  will  turn  up  a  thumb 'and  say, 
"Arimas'ka?"  —  "Is  he?"— literally,    "has?"     The 


YOKOHAMA.  2.3 

little  finger  and  the  same  remark  serves  to  ask  for  the 
lady  of  the  house.  "  This  I  have  not  witnessed,"  as 
Herodotus  would  say.  Nor  will  I  vouch  for  the  lady 
who  wanted  O  yu  (hot  water),  and  vainly  demanded 
O  my,  till  her  patience  gave  out,  and  she  cried,  "  Oh, 
you  idiot !"  "  And  then,  my  dear,  just  as  soon  as  I 
spoke  sharply  to  him,  that  stupid  hoy  went  and  got  it 
right  away !"  Such  are  the  tales  they  tell  the  new- 
comer, just  by  way  of  encouragement. 

"Yama,"  hill  or  mountain,  is  a  far  more  appro- 
priate name  than  Bluff  for  the  great  ridge  thrusting 
up  a  couple  of  hundred  feet  above  the  sea,  where  the 
residences  are.  The  Creek,  as  it  is  still  called,  faced 
with  stone  embankments  and  picturesque  with  odd 
craft,  cuts  the  hill  sharply  from  the  level  Settlement 
on  the  harbor  side ;  the  Bund  or  drive  along  the  sea- 
wall ends  in  a  little  bridge,  and  just  across  there  is  a 
small  Buddhist  temple,  cheaply  and  coarselv  deco- 
rated. Not  far  off  a  tea-house  well  known  to  foreign 
visitors  is  perched  at  the  top  of  the  "  Hundred  Steps," 
which  appear  in  almost  every  series  of  views  of  Yoko- 
hama. Other  flights  of  stone  steps  climb  the  hill  at 
various  points,  making  short  cuts  to  the  houses  above, 
and  good  macadamized  roads  wind  upward  between 
stone  walls  and  trees,  and  peeps  of  gardens  full  of 
shrubbery  and  flowers.  The  houses,  hidden  among 
the  mass  of  green,  are  of  course  altogether  "  foreign- 
built  " — that  is  to  say,  un-Japanese — and  possessed  of 
doors,  windows  and  chimneys ;  bungalows  and  "  Queen 


24  JAPAN. 

Anne"  cottages,  or  more  pretentious  brick  or  stone 
dwellings,  elbowing  plain  little  frame  houses,  or  the 
high  fence  and  big,  rambling  dormitories  of  some 
mission  school.  There  can  be  nothing  regular  or 
monotonous  where  house  climbs  above  house,  and  the 
road  zigzags  to  avoid  turning  into  a  ladder,  giving 
exquisite  glimpses  backward  of  the  sea  and  the  green 
fields  beyond  the  town,  and  the  Hakone  peaks  and 
Fujiyama  best  of  all.  If  anybody  in  this  part  of 
Japan  wants  to  boast  a  little  of  his  fine  outlook,  he 
will  probably  tell  you  he  has  a  view  of  Fuji  from  his 
windows.  Stylish  carriages  roll  by,  coachman  and 
footmen  often  in  a  neat  livery  of  dark  blue,  tight- 
fitting  trousers,  like  the  jinrikisha  men's,  belted  tunic, 
with  flowing  sleeves,  and  white  mushroom  hat.  The 
master's  crest  or  initial,  worked  between  the  shoulders, 
completes  the  costume.  There  are  pretty  girls  on 
horseback,  too,  with  running  grooms  ahead,  and  plenty 
of  jinrikishas  dashing  down  at  breakneck  pace,  or  toil- 
ing up,  pushed  by  an  extra  man  behind.  They  say 
accidents  are  not  frequent;  but  many  residents  who 
love  their  lives  prefer  to  walk  the  hill  both  ways — a 
practice  which  must  cultivate  excellent  muscles. 

One  of  the  lower  slopes,  called  Camp  Hill,  is  lined 
with  Japanese  shops — great  places  for  old  stamps  and 
curios  of  more  than  doubtful  authenticity.  This 
region  is  part  of  the  old  village  of  Honmura,  which 
was  here  long  before  the  "Black  Ships"  came  from 
America ;  and  a  guard-house — Japanese,  of  course  — 


YOKOHAMA.  25 

stood  here  in  the  sixties  to  protect  the  Settlement  from 
over-zealous  patriots.  Another  street  near  by  is  the 
haunt  of  dealers  in  second-hand  European  furniture, 
which  is  always  plenty  in  this  ever-changing  com- 
munity, where  diplomatic  officials,  merchants  and 
missionaries  alike  are  literally  here  to-day  and  gone 
to-morrow.  One  after  another  sells  out  and  departs, 
and  the  newcomers  who  take  their  places  attend  auc- 
tions and  explore  Honmura  Machi,  well  knowing  that 
they  will  presently  shift  in  turn  to  other  lands  or  other 
parts  of  the  empire. 

While  here,  however,  this  unstable  population  en- 
deavors to  live  as  nearly  in  its  native  manner  as  pos- 
sible, in  spite  of  the  distance  from  base.  Lane  & 
Crawford's  big  general  store,  and  the  milliners  and 
tailors,  and  their  likes,  contrive  to  furnish  European 
food  and  European  fashions,  only  a  little  out  of  date. 
There  is  the  cricket  ground,  where  some  good  games 
are  played ;  banks  and  churches  of  course  ;  a  hall  for 
entertainments  and  public  meetings ;  the  various 
clubs — English,  German  and  the  like  ;  half  a  dozen 
newspapers,  among  which  Captain  Brinkley's  Japan 
Mail  is  of  more  than  local  value ;  and  finally  the 
race-course  beyond  the  Bluff,  by  Mississippi  Bay, 
which  supplies  the  social  event  of  the  year,  and  is 
occasionally  visited  by  the  Emperor  himself.  House- 
keeping is  not  particularly  difficult.  Japanese  ser- 
vants are  neat,  obliging  and  generally  honest,  even  in 
the  open  ports,  and  so  man/  fruits  and  vegetables 


26  JAPAN. 

have  been  introduced  that  Tokyo  and  Yokohama  pro- 
vision shops  contain  almost  everything  that  Western 
people  are  used  to,  including  abundance  of  game  all 
winter.  Mutton,  though,  if  it  appears  at  all,  has  been 
imported  from  Australia  or  China,  for  sheep  will  not 
thrive  in  Japan.  There  used  to  be  two  or  three 
sorrowful-looking  specimens  at  the  Zoo  in  Uyeno  Park, 
Tokyo,  and  if  they  survive,  they  must  be  the  last 
of  their  race,  for  the  little  flock  at  the  experimental 
stock  farm  have  all  been  killed  and  eaten.  Some 
say  there  is  a  kind  of  hard  grass  that  injures  them, 
but  the  real  difficulty  seems  to  be  the  dampness  of  the 
climate,  which  causes  foot-rot.  This  could  probably 
be  avoided  by  care  in  housing  at  rainy  times,  if  it 
became  worth  while.  At  present  the  Japanese  dislike 
mutton  even  more  than  beef,  so  it  is  no  hardship  to 
them  to  do  without,  and  as  yet  there  is  no  great  de- 
mand for  wool.  Milk  is  more  and  more  used  every 
year,  and  some  very  good  butter  is  made  at  the  experi- 
ment farm  at  Sapporo,  and  at  two  or  three  stock  farms 
in  the  Hakone  district ;  it  is  put  up  in  one-pound  tins 
and  sold  at  a  good  price,  the  demand  being  always 
ahead  of  the  supply.  Unfortunately,  many  of  the 
foreign  hotels  serve  the  California  tub  variety  instead  ; 
it  has  the  double  advantage  of  being  cheaper  and  less 
eaten. 

In  summer  the  whole  Settlement  is  redolent  of  tea, 
and  the  drying  and  packing  firms  are  at  their  busiest. 
From   the  great  iron-shuttered   storehouses  comes  a 


YOKOHAMA.  27 

hum  of  voices,  and  through  door  or  window  you  see 
scores  of  girls  and  women  bending  over  the  heated 
trays,  deftly  handling  the  leaves.  Many  a  woman 
carries  a  baby  on  her  back,  comfortably  asleep  and  no 
doubt  a  great  deal  better  off  than  plenty  of  babies  in 
other  lands ;  but  it  seems  hard  on  the  mother,  who  has 
to  bear  this  additional  burden  through  the  long,  hot 
days. 

The  Japanese  part  of  Yokohama  extends  across 
from  the  edge  of  the  Settlement  to  Kanagawa  and 
far  up  the  inlet  between,  in  itself  a  city  of  over  two 
hundred  thousand  people.  Curio  shops  are  here,  and 
Japanese  goods  generally,  especially  in  Honcho  Dori 
(dori  is  lane)  and  Benten  Dori,  and  the  streets  near 
by,  all  close  to  the  railroad  station.  Many  of  the 
wealthier  Japanese,  whose  business  or  official  duties 
call  them  to  Yokohama,  have  houses  on  the  ridge  at 
Kanaeawa,  or  a  station  or  two  out  along  the  railroad. 
Then  there  is  the  Chinese  part  back  of  the  Settlement, 
and  an  unsavory  nest  of  sailors'  boarding  houses,  and 
all  the  evils  of  all  civilizations  together ;  while  up  on 
the  Bluff  a  number  of  mission  schools  are  earnestly 
striving  to  spread  a  saving  knowledge  of  the  greatest 
possible  good. 

Of  all  the  open  ports  Yokohama  has  the  largest 
foreign  trade,  eighty  million  yen  in  1898  against 
Kobe's  sixty  million,  which  comes  next— more  than 
half  the  total  import  and  export  of  the  country,  says 
the  last  official  report.     The  swamp  behind  the  Settle- 


28  JAPAN. 

ment  was  drained  and  built  upon  long  ago,  the  old 
gates  and  guard-houses  taken  away,  and  the  yahinin 
(guards)  replaced  by  dapper  Japanese  policemen  in  full 
"  Europe  clothes/'  as  Kipling  would  say.  From  May 
to  November  they  look  quite  too  immaculate  in  their 
white  summer  suits  to  tackle  six-foot  Irish  sailors  on 
a  spree ;  but  a  Japanese  can  usually  make  up  in 
agility  what  he  lacks  in  weight.  After  a  terrible  fire, 
some  dozen  years  ago,  most  of  the  original  town  was 
rebuilt  and  improved.  Good  water  has  been  brought 
in  from  Lake  Yamanaka  in  the  mountains,  the  harbor 
greatly  improved  and  a  pier  built,  two  thousand  feet 
long,  where  most  of  the  liners  come  up  instead  of 
anchoring.  A  large  dock  was  finished  in  1897.  Raw 
silk,  the  largest  item  of  export,  goes  mostly  from 
Yokohama ;  the  next  value  is  silk  piece-goods,  then 
tea,  which  they  say  is  slowly  falling  off  of  late  years ; 
mats  and  bamboo  wares  seem  to  be  on  the  increase, 
lacquer  and  fans  about  even,  and  of  imports,  ma- 
chinery and  woolen  goods  come  in  more  and  more 
every  year. 

How  the  Revised  Treaties  will  affect  Yokohama  it 
is  too  soon  to  know.  They  bring  foreigners  under 
Japanese  law  instead  of  the  consular  courts,  and  in 
return  any  one  may  reside  or  do  business  anywhere 
in  the  country,  Chinese  alone  excepted.  Some  Ameri- 
cans and  Europeans  have  gone  to  the  interior,  and 
more  will  doubtless  go ;  but  it  is  probable  that,  for  the 
present  at  least,  the  difficulties  of  the  language  will 


YOKOHAMA.  29 

keep  most  business  people  where  they  can  depend  on 
English  for  their  transactions.  In  any  case,  it  would 
seem  that  the  place  must  continue  to  grow  in  import- 
ance, because  large  vessels  cannot  get  up  to  Tokyo, 
and  there  is  no  other  harbor  so  fitted  to  serve  as  a  sea- 
port for  the  capital. 

The  surroundings  of  Yokohama  are  exceedingly 
pretty.  On  one  side  is  the  Tokaido,  the  Eastern 
Sea  highroad,  always  full  of  picturesque  life,  and  on 
the  other  Mississippi  Bay,  a  beautiful  curve  between 
Treaty  Point  and  the  promontory  above  Sugita  vil- 
lage. Tomioka,  just  beyond  Sugita,  is  frequented  by 
llama  people  for  the  bathing,  and  a  little  boat  runs 
across  from  the  city  in  three-quarters  of  an  hour.  By 
the  road  it  is  a  charming  walk  or  ride,  some  six  miles, 
first  down  by  the  race-course  and  the  paddy-fields, 
and  then  along  the  bay ;  and  there  are  pretty  tea- 
houses by  the  way,  and  a  side  turn  to  Macpherson's 
Hill,  where  the  view  is  exceptionally  fine.  The  plum 
blossoms  at  Sugita  are  famous,  and  on  this  warm, 
sheltered  coast  they  come  out  weeks  before  they  do  in 
Tokyo — sometimes  early  in  January.  Last  year,  in 
flower  time,  one  of  the  papers  noted  an  odd  group  of 
visitors  at  Sugita;  they  could  hardly  be  called  sight- 
seers, for  they  were  all  blind  !  It  was  a  party  of 
Amma,  or  blind  shampooers,  as  they  are  generally 
called,  belonging  to  the  Shampooers'  Guilds  of  Tokyo 
and  Yokohama.  Professional  massage  is  reserved  for 
the  blind,  because  it  is  something  they  can  do,  and 


30  JAPAN. 

particularly  well.  You  often  meet  one  of  the  men  on 
the  street,  feeling  his  way  with  a  long  staff,  and  every 
few  minutes  blowing  two  or  three  shrill,  plaintive 
notes  on  a  kind  of  penny-whistle.  There  are  women 
Amma,  too,  and  they  also  appeared  on  this  occasion, 
patting  the  rough  trunks  and  breathing  the  fragrance 
with  as  much  delight  as  those  who  saw.  Indeed,  they 
stayed  so  late — caring  nothing  for  the  gathering  dark- 
ness!— that  the  guardians  of  the  place  had  to  fairly 
turn  them  out  at  last. 

Spinning  along  to-day  behind  a  cheerful  and  talka- 
tive kurumaya,  it  is  difficult  to  remember  that  this 
bay  road  was  built  for  the  express  use  of  foreigners, 
to  keep  them  away  from  the  Tokaido  and  encounters 
such  as  the  fatal  "  Richardson  affair"  of  1862,  which 
cost  Japan  so  much.  It  is  not  a  pleasant  story,  but 
so  characteristic  of  the  time  that  I  give  it  in  some 
detail. 

This  Richardson,  then,  was  a  Shanghai  merchant, 
who  had  retired  and  was  spending  a  few  weeks  in 
Japan,  on  his  way  home  to  England,  when  he  and 
two  other  gentlemen,  Yokohama  residents,  took  a  lady 
out  one  afternoon  for  a  ride  on  the  Tokaido.  They 
turned  up  toward  Yedo  from  Kanagawa,  and  kept 
meeting  groups  of  Samurai,  the  two-sworded  retainers 
of  some  nobleman.  Here  accounts  differ  as  to  the 
English  party's  behavior,  but  while  they  certainly  did 
not  mean  to  give  offence,  they  seem  to  have  thought 
they  were  doing  wonders  of  conciliation  in  walking 


YOKOHAMA.  31 

their  horses  past  the  groups,  and  disregarding  black 
looks. 

By  the  crests  on  the  knights'  sleeves  the  Yokohama 
people  recognized  the  retainers  of  Satsuma,  proudest 
and  just  then  most  powerful  of  the  Daimyo,  who  was 
openly  of  the  Nationalist  party ;  and  at  last  they  came 
to  the  guard  surrounding  the  litter  of  the  prince  him- 
self, about  a  hundred  men.  Now,  when  a  Daimyo 
passed,  it  was  the  inexorable  law  for  every  Japanese 
of  less  rank  to  get  off  his  horse,  if  he  had  one,  and 
bow  down;  and  at  such  times  quarrels  between  the 
retainers  over  points  of  precedence  were  so  apt  to 
take  place  that  whenever  they  could  the  great  lords 
avoided  passing  on  the  highway.  Instead  of  dis- 
mounting, however,  the  foreign  party  merely  drew  off 
to  the  side  of  the  road  and  kept  on  riding,  two  abreast, 
taking  up  nearly  half  of  the  narrow  way — at  least 
Richardson  and  the  lady  did  ;  and  it  is  to  be  noticed 
here  that  she  was  recently  from  Hong  Kong.  The 
wiser  Yokohama  gentlemen  urged  turning  into  a  side 
road,  but  Richardson  is  said  to  have  called  out,  "  Let 
me  alone ;  I  know  how  to  manage  these  people."  A 
moment  later  a  man  came  forward  and  motioned  them 
to  dismount ;  but,  misunderstanding,  they  turned  their 
horses  to  go  back,  and  at  the  same  instant  a  Samurai, 
enraged  past  control  by  the  supposed  insult  to  his 
lord,  rushed  at  them  and  cut  Richardson  across  the 
side.  Others  drew  and  struck  at  the  rest  of  the  party, 
wounding  one  of  the  men  severely ;  but  they  spurred 


32  JAPAN. 

their  horses  and  dashed  through,  and  three  of  them 
rode  safe  to  Kanagawa,  after  seeing  Richardson  drop 
from  his  horse,  nearly  or  quite  dead.  His  body  was 
found  by  the  road,  with  a  mat  thrown  over  it — they 
say  by  the  kind  deed  of  a  woman  who  still  keeps  a 
tea-house  close  by,  whom  the  foreigners  call  Black- 
Eyed  Susan. 

Of  course  the  uproar  in  the  Settlement  was  tremen- 
dous, and  only  the  clear  judgment  and  strong  will  of 
Colonel  Neale,  the  British  charge  cV  affaires,  kept  the 
community  from  acts  that  must  inevitably  have 
brought  on  war.  When  pressed  for  redress,  the 
Shogun's  government  had  to  acknowledge  that  it 
could  not  control  the  great  clans ;  and  the  result  was 
that,  after  much  negotiating  and  vain  promises,  the 
English  took  the  law  into  their  own  hands  and  pro- 
ceeded to  punish  Satsuma.  Their  ships  bombarded 
Kagoshima,  a  town  of  one  hundred  thousand  inhab- 
itants, nearly  destroying  it  and  killing  many  people, 
beside  losing  some  themselves  ;  after  which  the  Prince 
of  Satsuma  apologized  and  paid  a  large  indemnity,  in 
the  usual  manner  of  such  affairs.  Luckily  the  doc- 
trine of  Spheres  of  Influence  had  yet  to  be  invented, 
or  there  is  no  knowing  what  might  have  happened. 
But  the  event  had  one  important  effect ;  it  convinced 
Satsuma  that  the  barbarians  could  only  be  beaten 
with  their  own  weapons — a  conviction  which  had  far- 
reaching  results  for  the  country  at  large;  while  the 
foreigners,  on  their  side,  learned  some  useful   lessons 


YOKOHAMA.  33 

on  keeping  out  of  danger.  Still,  there  was  no  real 
security  for  them  till  after  the  Restoration  in  1868 
did  away  with  the  Jo-i,  or  anti-foreign  party,  and 
made  the  region  round  Yokohama  free  from  irre- 
sponsible "  patriots." 

Another  pleasant  excursion  is  to  Yokosuka,  down 
the  peninsula,  either  by  train — the  usual  way — or  by 
boat,  in  about  an  hour  and  a  half.  From  a  mere 
fishing  hamlet  the  place  has  grown  to  a  thriving  town, 
on  account  of  the  naval  dock-yards  already  mentioned. 
These  cannot  be  visited,  though,  without  a  special 
introduction.  Already  they  build  torpedo  boats  and 
other  warlike  vessels  of  the  smaller  classes,  and  no 
doubt  some  day  will  turn  out  the  largest ;  it  is  only  a 
matter  of  time.  On  a  hill  near  by  those  who  have  a 
turn  for  tombs  may  visit  the  grave  of  Will  Adams, 
the  English  pilot,  who  lived  here  "  like  any  great 
lord,"  as  he  wrote  home  to  his  friends.  This  Adams 
came  on  a  Dutch  ship  which  put  in  for  repairs  at 
Bungo,  in  southern  Japan,  in  1600,  or  fifty  years  after 
the  Portuguese  came,  and  after  the  edict  expelling 
foreigners  and  forbidding  Christianity  had  been  put 
forth,  though  not  yet  rigorously  enforced.  Adams, 
who  seems  to  have  been  a  man  of  parts,  was  sent  up 
to  Osaka  to  answer  to  "  the  King,"  as  he  calls  the 
Shogun  Ieyasu.  Perhaps  his  outspoken  hatred  of  the 
Spanish  and  Portuguese  won  the  Shogun ;  moreover, 
Tokugawa  Ieyasu  was  a  thoroughly  practical  states- 
man, and  had  the  true  Japanese  thirst  for  useful 
Vol.  L— 3 


34  JAPAN. 

ideas.  Anyhow,  he  persuaded  the  pilot  to  stay  in 
Japan,  had  him  teach  navigation  and  build  ships, 
made  him  a  knight,  with  estates  and  servants,  and 
always  contrived  to  keep  him  from  going  home  to 
England.  His  letters  lament  for-  his  English  wife 
and  children ;  but  failing  them,  he  consoled  himself 
with  a  Japanese,  who  seems  to  have  made  him  very 
comfortable,  and  who  is  buried  on  the  hill  not  far 
away. 

Just  before  reaching  Yokosuka  by  rail  there  is  a 
pretty  little  village  on  the  sea,  Dzushi  by  name,  which 
is  quite  a  haunt  of  Tokyo  and  Yokohama  (foreign) 
residents;  certain  of  the  diplomatic  corps  have  built 
villas  there,  nestling  against  cliffs  half  hidden  in  wild 
vines  and  flowering  shrubs.  There  are  two  inns  also 
— Japanese,  of  course — one  charmingly  quiet  and  the 
other  apt  to  be  full  of  noisy  guests,  especially  "  week- 
end "  visitors  from  the  port.  But  the  favorite  breath- 
ing-place of  all  is  Kamakura,  at  the  station  just  before 
Dzushi.  To-day  it  is  only  a  seaside  resort  of  one 
"  foreign  "  and  two  good  Japanese  hotels  and  some 
cottages ;  but  for  the  sake  of  its  great  past,  Kamakura 
deserves  to  be  considered  respectfully  and  apart. 


^^Wfl^s-- 


CHAPTER  IV. 

HISTORY — THE    DAWN   AND   THE   MIDDLE   AGES. 

"  In  the  Japan  of  to-day  the  world  has  before  it  a  unique  example 
of  an  Eastern  people  displaying  the  power  to  assimilate  and  to  adopt 
the  civilization  of  the  West,  whilst  preserving  its  own  national 
dignity  unimpaired." — Weston,  "  The  Japanese  Alps." 

From  Yokohama  to  Kamakura  is  almost  always 
the  first  trip.  But  before  entering  upon  Japan  proper 
it  may  be  well  to  say  a  little  concerning  Japanese  his- 
tory, else  the  inevitable  names  and  much  beside  will 
be  but  a  weariness  and  vexation  of  spirit. 

The  more  the  race  is  studied  the  more  complex  its 
origin  seems  to  be.  It  is  now  fairly  well  established 
that  there  were  at  least  two  principal  waves  of  immi- 
gration— the  one  from  the  mainland  of  Asia  by  way 
of  Korea,  a  race  not  Chinese,  and  not  even  closely 
related  to  China,  and  the  other  of  Malay  extraction, 
which  came  up  by  the  Lu  Chu  Islands  and  through 
Kiushiu.  A  third  race  was  in  the  islands  already,  the 
Ainu,  a  few  of  whom  are  still  left  in  the  far  north  ; 
but  where  the  Ainu  came  from  or  to  whom  they  are 
akin  remains  a  puzzle.  It  must  have  been  somewhere 
in  the  last  dozen  centuries  before  the  Christian  era 
that  these  various  elements  were  engaged  in  shaking 

35 


36  JAPAN. 

together,  through  trade  and  fightings,  into  the  Japan- 
ese race.  Mazeliere  claims  that  the  Malay  element  is 
that  of  the  imperial  family  and  the  court  nobles  (the 
KugS),  and  the  "  Ouralien  "  of  Asia  that  of  the  Buke, 
the  military  class  and  the  feudal  nobles;  while  the 
conquered  Ainu  formed  the  basis  of  the  peasantry, 
who  till  recently  were  to  all  intents  and  purposes  serfs 
attached  to  the  soil.  Of  course  it  will  not  do  to 
understand  this  neat  classification  too  literally,  but  it 
is  quite  true  that  the  Emperor  himself  is  of  the  Malay 
type,  having  nearly  level  eyes,  short,  straight  nose 
and  square  chin  ;  while  the  feudal  nobles  show  usually 
the  long  face,  arched  nose  and  eyes  a  little  oblique, 
and  the  peasants  are  chunky  and  round-faced  like  the 
Ainu. 

Japanese  historical  accounts  begin  with  the  creation 
and  the  doings  of  the  gods,  leading  from  these  directly 
to  Jimmu  Ten-no,  the  first  Emperor,  grandson  of  the 
Sun  Goddess,  whose  legendary  date  is  660  B.C.  He 
crossed  with  his  followers  in  a  stone  boat  from  Awa, 
in  the  Inland  Sea,  to  the  Yamato  district  of  the  main 
island,  and  subdued  the  "Earth-Spiders"  (perhaps 
Ainu  ;  perhaps  a  still  older  race),  slew  dragons  and 
set  the  laud  in  order;  and  his  descendants  reigned 
after  him,  as  they  have  continued  to  do,  even  to  Mut- 
suhito,  the  one  hundred  and  twenty-first,  who  now 
occupies  the  throne. 

So  say  the  Kojiki  and  Nihongi,  chronicles  compiled 
in  the  eighth  century,  the  earliest  written  record  of 


THE   DAWN   AND   THE   MIDDLE   AGES.         37 

events.     At  least  it  is  certain  that  by  the  beginning 

of  the  Christian  era  the  races  must  have  settled  into 
one  people,  under  a  patriarchal  clan  government,  liv- 
ing in  villages,  cultivating  rice  and  other  foods,  and 
having  all  the  ordinary  arts  in  a  more  or  less  primitive 
degree  of  development;  each  elan  having  its  own  an- 
cestral nature  gods,  or  Kami,  among  whom  the  Sun 
Goddess  stood  highest,  and  the  chiefs  of  the  Sun  Clan 
possessed  a  kind  of  loose  hegemony  over  the  rest.  To 
this  vague  early  period  belongs  the  Empress  Jingo, 
who  conquered  Korea  on  behalf  of  her  infant  son,  the 
Emperor  Ojin ;  and  the  Emperor  Nintoku,  who  re- 
mitted the  taxes  for  three  years,  and,  while  his  house 
fell  to  ruin,  rejoiced  to  see  smoke  rising  once  more 
from  the  straw  huts  of  his  people ;  and  Prince 
Yamato-take,  who  destroyed  robbers  and  ogres,  and 
conquered  the  Emishi — these  were  certainly  Ainu — 
to  the  east  and  north  as  far  as  Sagami  Bay  ;  and  the 
Empress  Sniko,  who  established  Buddhism.  With 
her  closed  the  age  of  the  gods  and  heroes,  and  with 
the  "Nara  period"  of  the  eighth  century  authentic 
history  begins. 

It  Avas  three  centuries  sooner,  about  400  A.D.,  that 
Buddhist  missionaries  had  first  come  from  China 
through  Korea  bringing  letters  and  arts;  but  the  Dew 
religion  did  not  take  hold  till  late  in  the  seventh  cen- 
tury,  when  there  was  a  great  wave  of  zeal,  temples 
building  everywhere  and  sacred  texts  copied  and 
images  made  for  temples  and  private  shrines.     The 


38  JAPAN. 

old  nature  gods,  the  Kami,  were  turned  into  Buddhist 
saints  and  angels,  and  with  Chinese  arts  and  civiliza- 
tion came  the  wisdom  of  Chinese  sages,  which  was  to 
Japan  even  more  than  the  wisdom  of  Egypt  was  to 
Greece. 

Before  700  the  Court  moved  with  almost  every 
reign;  then  it  settled  at  Nara,  and  remained  there 
nearly  a  hundred  years.  It  was  a  time  of  rapid 
growth  and  development ;  Chinese  orders  of  rank  and 
ceremony  were  adopted,  histories  written  (in  Japanese 
words,  but  with  Chinese  characters)  and  a  new  and 
higher  civilization  established  on  Chinese  lines,  but 
Avith  the  inevitable  Japanese  modification ;  for  the 
Japanese,  like  the  Greeks,  are  always  borrowing,  but 
always  changing  the  loan  to  suit  their  own  intense 
individuality — a  habit  which  is  often  very  distressing 
to  those  who  believe  Western  civilization  the  only  re- 
liable brand. 

By  the  time  the  Court  removed  to  Kyoto,  about 
900,  the  formative  stage  had  been  passed,  and  Heian, 
"the  Peace,"  was  a  thoroughly  national  epoch — a 
period  of  great  refinement  and  activity  in  art,  litera- 
ture and  government.  To  this  time  belongs  Kobo 
Daishi,  Buddhist  saint,  poet,  painter,  to  whom  is  at- 
tributed nearly  every  early  work  of  art  in  the  empire, 
along  with  miracles  and  pilgrimages  enough  for 
twenty  saints.  In  the  tenth  century  they  compiled 
twenty  volumes  of  poetry  written  since  the  "  Man- 
yoshiu"  collection  was  compiled  at  Nara;  and  the  great 


THE  DAWN    AND  THE  MIDDLE  AGES.  39 

Japanese  classics,  the  Genji  M&nogatari,  the  "  Journey 
from  Tosa"  (Tom  Nikki)  and  the  "  Pillow  Sketches" 
were  all  written  between  900  and  1150.  But  to  this 
time  also  belongs  the  inevitable  weakening  of  the 
Court  circle  through  luxury  and  over-refinement,  the 
decline  of  the  Emperor's  power  and  the  rise  of  the 
great  families  whose  chiefs  aspired  to  rule  as  Chancel- 
lors or  Regents  in  the  Emperor's  name. 

This  usurpation  of  power  by  the  clans  is  the  most 
characteristic  feature  of  the  early  Middle  Ages  in 
Japan.  The  Fujiwara  came  first,  getting  their  daugh- 
ters married  to  successive  Emperors  and  obtaining 
almost  entire  control  of  the  throne.  They  were 
checked  for  a  time  by  the  great  Michizane,  of  the 
Sugiwara  Clan,  who  became  Chancellor  and  served 
two  Emperors  with  wisdom  and  faithfulness,  but  was 
exiled  on  a  false  charge,  and  died  in  half-savage 
Kiushiu;  but  after  Michizane  was  out  of  the  way 
the  Fujiwara  regained  their  influence,  and  kept  it 
till  they  were  finally  overshadowed  by  two  great  clans 
descended  from  ninth  century  Emperors,  the  families 
of  Taira  and  Minamoto. 

All  the  last  half  of  the  twelfth  century  is  filled  with 
the  strife  between  these  two  clans,  which  is  known  in 
Japan  as  the  Gen-pei,  Gen  being  the  Chinese  (and 
therefore  elegant)  pronunciation  of  the  character  for 
Minamoto,  and  Heiki  (H  becoming  P  in  composition) 
for  Taira — called  also  the  War  of  the  Chrysanthemums, 
from  the    red  and  white  flower    badges  used  by  the 


40  JAPAN. 

two  sides.  Their  fightings  make  up  nearly  half  of 
the  hero  stories  of  old  Japan,  partly  embodied  in  the 
drama,  partly  in  long  romances,  in  which  the  Mina- 
moto  warriors  are  the  chief  favorites.  The  struggle 
began  definitely  in  1156,  when  Kiyomori  of  Taira 
was  foremost  in  putting  down  an  insurrection  in 
which  some  of  the  Minamoto  were  involved;  the 
Minamoto  chief  was  killed,  and  Kiyomori  put  to 
death  nearly  all  the  leaders  of  the  clan,  sparing  only 
three  children  of  the  chief  at  the  entreaty  of  their 
mother,  a  beautiful  peasant  girl  named  Tokiwa. 
Then  Kiyomori  got  himself  made  Prime  Minister,  and 
married  his  daughter  to  the  Emperor,  getting  the  same 
control  of  the  throne  as  the  Fujiwara  had  enjoyed, 
beside  a  great  deal  more  military  power  than  they  had 
ever  had.  But  Kiyomori  was  by  nature  cruel  and 
arrogant,  and  his  acts  became  so  arbitrary  that  all  the 
nobles  turned  against  him ;  so  that  when  the  young 
Minamoto  lads,  Yoritomo  and  Yoshitsune,  grew  up 
and  escaped  from  the  monasteries  where  they  had  been 
placed,  they  found  it  easy  to  rally  their  claus  and  at- 
tack Kiyomori.  The  ex-Emperor — who  had  become 
Ho-o  (retired),  as  the  usual  custom  was — having  had 
more  than  enough  of  Kiyomori,  openly  favored  the 
Minamoto,  whereupon  the  Taira  carried  away  the 
child  Emperor,  Antoku,  Kiyoraori's  grandson,  and 
kept  him  in  their  camp.  The  struggle  was  tremend- 
ous ;  the  battles  went  now  for  one  side,  now  for  the 
other,  till  at   last  the    Taira  were  driven  south  and 


THE   DAWN   AND  THE  MIDDLE  AGES.  41 

utterly  defeated  at  Dan-no-ura,  on  the  Inland  Sea, 
hundreds  being  slain,  hundreds  forced  into  the  water 
or  sunk  with  their  ships.     When  all  was  lost,  Kiyo- 

mori's  wife  took  her  grandson,  the  little  Emperor,  in 
her  arms  aud  leaped  with  him  from  a  boat  into  the 
sea.  Many  of  the  leaders  who  survived  were  after- 
wards put  to  death,  and  the  women  made  servants ; 
the  Taira  Clan  was  all  but  annihilated,  and  never 
again  recovered  its  prestige. 

During  all  these  years  of  disturbance,  when  there 
was  no  safety  for  the  weak  except  under  the  protec- 
tion of  the  strong,  the  feudal  system  had  been  devel- 
oping just  as  it  developed  in  Europe  under  like  condi- 
tions, save  for  the  strongly  patriarchal  qualities  which 
it  never  lost  in  Japan.  To  quote  Fenollosa,  "  The 
wars  bred  a  new  race  of  Japanese — hardy,  fearless, 
cruel.  The  polite  culture  of  centuries  had  disappeared 
in  a  holocaust  of  burning  palaces ;  Chinese  learning 
was  forgotten ;  the  only  faith  left  was  that  in  self- 
prowess.  The  new  element  which  now  leaped  to  the 
front  was  Japanese  character."  At  the  same  time  a 
purely  military  class  had  grown  up,  the  Bushi,  knights 
or  Samurai,  men  whose  sole  duty  was  to  fight  for  the 
feudal  lord  to  whose  clan  they  belonged,  and  who  in 
return  was  pledged  to  their  support.  This  class  Yori- 
tomo  did  much  to  establish,  by  defining  their  position, 
duties  and  privileges,  which  last  were  only  less  than 
those  of  the  nobles.  His  first  step  after  his  victories 
was  to  obtain  recognition  from  the  new  Emperor,  the 


42  JAPAN. 

next  to  have  himself  appointed  Shogun  or  General-in- 
Chief;  then  he  set  up  a  military  capital  at  Kamakura, 
on  Sagami  Bay,  and  proceeded  to  appoint  provincial 
officers  from  his  own  following  to  administer  the 
empire  throughout,  formulated  the  duties  of  knights 
and  lords,  and  placed  the  whole  system  of  feudal  gov- 
ernment on  a  firm  and  orderly  basis.  An  important 
part  of  his  plan  was  to  strengthen  the  central  power — 
namely,  his  own — by  settling  his  family  and  immedi- 
ate followers  in  the  eight  provinces  north  of  the  Ha- 
kone  Pass,  known  as  the  Kwanto,  in  distinction  from 
the  Kwansei  or  Home  Provinces  south  of  the  pass 
and  around  Kyoto.  Much  of  this  Kwanto  region  was 
still  uncultivated,  a  waste  of  forest  and  reedy  swamp, 
and  grants  of  land  were  made  to  kuights  who  would 
andertake  to  have  the  country  drained  and  tilled,  and 
drive  out  the  barbarous  Emishi,  who  still  lingered 
about  this  Northern  Gate.  There  was  a  general  feel- 
ing that  this  district  was  less  sacred  than  Yamato,  and 
might  be  fully  controlled  by  a  subject  without  viola- 
tion of  loyalty,  since  it  had  never  been  under  the 
actual  rule  of  the  Son  of  Heaven. 

Yoritomo  had  caused  the  office  of  Shogun  to  be 
made  hereditary  in  his  family,  but  he  had  no  worthy 
descendants ;  his  clever  widow,  Masako,  becoming  a 
Buddhist  nun,  ruled  ably  from  behind  the  curtain,  but 
the  power  presently  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Hojo 
family,  who  were  not  strong  enough  to  make  them- 
selves Shoguns,  but  governed  as  Shikken  (Regents)  on 


THE  DAWN  AND  THE  MIDDLE  AGES.    43 

behalf  of  a  series  of  puppet  Shoguns.  The  Kyoto 
Court  tried  to  throw  oft'  both  Shogun  and  Shikken, 
with  the  result  that  civil  war  broke  out  again,  and  two 
Emperors  claimed  the  throne;  so  that  for  nearly  a 
hundred  years  there  were  two  lines  reigning  at  once, 
one  supported  by  Kamakura  and  the  other  always 
plotting  against  the  Shogunatc,  all  of  which  naturally 
made  the  Hojo  so  much  the  more  secure.  At  last  a 
compact  was  made  that  each  line  should  furnish  an 
Emperor  in  turn,  an  arrangement,  however,  which  did 
not  continue  after  the  first  round. 

Here  the  Emperor  Go-Daigo  appears — a  man  of 
some  real  ability,  but  vacillating  and  easily  led.  As 
ex-Emperor  he  made  a  strong  fight  against  the  Hojo, 
aided  by  his  son,  Morinaga,  who  was  a  Buddhist 
priest  and  won  over  the  monks.  The  Regent  sent  an 
army  to  Kyoto  ;  Go-Daigo  fled,  but  was  captured  and 
imprisoned  on  a  small  island.  Meanwhile  two  great 
generals  fought  for  him,  whose  names  in  Japan  are 
synonyms  for  bravery  and  loyalty,  Kusonosuke 
Masashige  and  Xitta  Yoshisada,  the  latter  a  Mina- 
moto ;  and  with  them  fought  Ashikaga  Takauji,  who 
was  likewise  a  Minamoto.  They  took  and  sacked 
Kamakura  and  restored  Go-Daigo,  who  had  managed 
to  escape  from  his  island ;  but  Ashikaga  soon  began 
to  usurp  power,  and,  persuading  Go-Daigo  to  have 
his  son  Morinaga  imprisoned  at  Kamakura  on  a 
charge  of  disloyalty,  after  some  months  put  him  to 
death.     Masashige  and  Xitta  then  came  against  Ashi- 


44  JAPAX. 

kaga  and  were  defeated.  Masashige  fell  in  battle, 
Nitta  killed  himself  when  all  was  lost,  and  Ashi- 
kaga  had  himself  proclaimed  Shogun,  set  up  a  new 
Emperor  and  established  a  family  who  remained  in 
power  till  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century. 

The  Ashikaga  period  was  a  brilliant  one  for  art  and 
literature,  but  it  was  also  a  time  of  degeneracy  and 
gradual  decline  of  the  central  power,  which  resulted 
in  another  season  of  disorder  throughout  most  of  the 
sixteenth  century.  More  than  one  daring  Ronin  or 
Samurai  who  had  become  masterless  put  himself  at 
the  head  of  a  band  of  robbers  and  terrorized  half  a 
province,  and  to  protect  themselves  the  feudal  lords  as- 
sumed power  and  became  more  and  more  independent. 
The  most  distinguished  of  these  new  lords  was  one 
Ota  Nobunaga,  a  small  Daimyo  descended  from  the 
Taira  family,  who  suddenly  rose  to  great  power.  By 
a  series  of  brilliant  victories  and  combinations  he 
overcame  one  Daimyo  after  another,  seized  or  built 
castles,  and  at  last  deposed  the  Shogun  and  became 
absolutely  powerful,  Shogun  in  all  but  the  name ;  but, 
unlike  former  generals,  acting  with  the  greatest  loy- 
alty toward  the  Emperor,  rebuilding  the  palace  and 
supplying  the  Court  with  ample  revenues. 

It  was  just  at  this  time  that  the  Portuguese  reached 
Japan — by  accident  they  declared — bringing  Western 
knowledge,  and,  above  all,  firearms,  wrhich  the  Japan- 
ese seized  upon  with  eagerness  and  promptly  imi- 
tated.    Nobunaga's  victories  must  have  been  at  least 


THE  DAWN  AND  THE  MIDDLE  AGES.  45 

partly  due  to  the  new  weapons,  which  he  took  pains 
to  secure;  and,  moreover,  the  Portuguese,  and  the 
Spanish  who  followed,  supplied  him  with  another  arm 
which  he  was  not  slow  to  use — namely,  a  new  religion 
to  turn  against  the  Buddhist  monks. 

Long  before  this  the  Emperor  Go-Shirakawa  had 
declared  that  there  were  three  things  in  the  empire 
which  did  not  obey  him— "  the  waters  of  the  Kamo- 
gawa,  the  dice  of  the  Sugoroku  players  and  the  priests 
of  Hiezan."  The  great  monastery  on  the  mountain 
over  against  Kyoto,  founded  along  with  the  city  in  the 
ninth  century,  had  become  enormously  wealthy  and 
powerful ;  both  here  and  at  other  temples  it  had  be- 
come customary  to  maintain  soldier-monks  and  to  inter- 
fere actively  and  often  insolently  in  affairs  of  the  empire. 
Nobunaga  alone  had  courage  to  attack  the  unruly 
priests.  He  laid  siege  to  Mount  Hiezan,  and  in  spite 
of  the  scruples  of  his  generals  destroyed  the  temples 
and  the  monastery,  killed  many  priests  and  monks 
who  ate  meat  and  broke  their  vows  of  celibacy,  and 
after  much  fighting  here  and  elsewhere,  completely 
subdued  the  Order. 

This  antagonism  to  the  Buddhists  was  almost  cer- 
tainly the  secret  of  Nobunaga's  special  favor  to 
Xavier  and  the  missionaries  who  followed  the  Por- 
tuguese traders  to  Japan.  Many  of  his  followers 
professed  Christianity  ;  Nobunaga  even  built  them  a 
place  of  worship  in  Kyoto  itself,  and  during  his  time 
there  was  no  change  of  attitude  toward  them.     Nor 


40  JAPAN. 

is  it  possible  to  doubt  that  many  did  truly  become 
Christians,  according  to  the  degree  of  knowledge 
given  to  them ;  otherwise  the  after  persecutions  would 
not  have  been  needed  to  stamp  out  the  faith. 

The  sixteenth  century  was  pre-eminently  a  period 
of  brilliant  men.  Nobunaga's  chief  general  was  a 
marvel ously  clever  adventurer — Hideyoshi,  the  son  of 
a  peasant ;  a  creature  so  grotesque  that  he  was  nick- 
named the  Monkey ;  so  able  that,  from  being  Nobu- 
naga's horseboy,  he  rose  to  the  highest  military 
honor,  and  after  Nobunaga's  death  got  entire  control 
of  the  empire,  nominally  in  behalf  of  Nobunaga's 
young  son.  He  could  not  be  made  Shogun  because 
he  was  not  a  Minamoto,  and  all  attempts  to  get  him- 
self adopted  into  the  family  failed ;  but  as  Taiko 
(Regent)  he  obtained  a  really  higher  title.  Adventurer 
as  he  was,  Hideyoshi  was  no  mere  soldier ;  perhaps 
the  peasant-farmer  crops  out  in  his  new  and  very  ex- 
cellent land  regulations  ;  and  he  appointed  a  Council 
of  Elders  and  made  other  less  important  reforms  in 
administration.  His  great  ambition  was  to  conquer 
Korea,  and  for  this  he  sent  out  a  large  army,  which 
was  at  first  successful,  but  afterwards  all  but  de- 
feated ;  and  after  a  good  deal  of  fighting  and  much 
loss,  the  Koreans  made  peace  and  paid  a  nominal 
tribute. 

Hideyoshi  gave  the  first  check  to  Christianity ;  in 
his  time  the  foreign  priests  received  a  sudden  com- 
mand  to  leave,   according   to    some   because  one  of 


THE   DAWN    AM)  THE   MIDDLE  AGES.  47 

them  had  behaved  with  want  of  respect  to  some  great 

lord,  but  according  to  others  because  the  government 
took  alarm  at  something  they  heard  from  the  Protest- 
ant Dutch  and  English — who  had  likewise  come  to 
trade — of  the  temporal  power  of  the  Pope  and  the 
land-grabbing  methods  of  the  King  of  Spain.  For 
whatever  reason  it  may  have  been,  the  missionaries 
were  banished  and  Christianity  forbidden ;  but  there 
was  no  great  effort  to  enforce  the  law  except  as  to 
exclusion  of  foreign  priests,  and  the  persecutions  did 
not  begin  till  nearly  a  generation  later. 

The  third  great  man  of  the  century,  and  much  the 
greatest  of  the  three,  was  Tokugawa  Ieyasu.  He 
came  of  a  minor  branch  of  the  Minamoto  family, 
which  had  long  been  in  difficulties  with  stronger 
neighbors.  A  Japanese  authority  declares  that  as  a 
child  Ieyasu  was  "  confined  in  various  places  as  surety 
for  his  family's  conduct,"  which  experiences  "  may 
have  helped  to  sharpen  his  naturally  remarkable  abili- 
ties. .  .  .  Gradually  and  astutely  he  encroached  upon 
the  neighboring  provinces,  until  finally  he  found  him- 
self the  strongest  chieftain  in  the  Tokaido."  '  Later, 
after  assisting  Hideyoshi  to  overthrow  the  Hojo  and 
Odawara,  their  provinces,  comprising  nearly  the 
whole  of  the  Kwanto,  were  given  into  Ieyasn's 
charge;  whereupon  he  built  Yedo  Castle  (now  Tokyo), 
and  proceeded  to  establish  himself  as  lord  of  the 
whole  region  north  of  the  Hakone  Pass. 

l"  History  of  the  Empire  of  Japan." 


48  JAPAN. 

After  the  death  of  Hideyoshi,  his  followers  held 
Osaka  Castle,  his  principal  stronghold,  on  behalf  of 
his  son,  Hideyori,  who  was  still  a  mere  child.  At 
first  Tokugawa  was  apparently  loyal,  but  a  break 
soon  occurred,  and  after  some  years  of  struggle  the 
Tokugawa  got  the  upper  hand  everywhere.  He 
finally  defeated  the  allies  at  Sekigahara,  a  little  north 
of  Lake  Biwa,  and  shortly  after  took  and  partly 
burned  Osaka  Castle,  Hideyori  and  his  mother  killing 
themselves  in  the  flames.  Ieyasu  then  got  the  Em- 
peror to  appoint  him  Shogun,  and  spent  the  rest  of 
his  life  consolidating  his  influence  and  laying  the 
foundations  of  the  "  Great  Peace/7  which  lasted,  at 
least  outwardly,  till  Commodore  Perry  appeared  in 
\;edo  Bay. 


CHAPTER   V. 

THE   TOKUGAWA    AND   THE   RESTORATION. 

Tokugawa  Ieyasu's  great  work  may  be  summed 
up  in  one  word — centralization.  Nobunaga  and  Hide- 
yoshi  had  gained  enormous  prestige  for  themselves,  but 
had  not  been  able  to  establish  a  permanent  govern- 
ment. Ieyasu  took  up  the  work  where  they  left  it, 
and  organized  a  system  of  administration  which  broke 
down  after  two  hundred  and  fifty  years,  chiefly  be- 
cause it  was  too  rigidly  perfect,  too  inflexible  to  bear 
the  strain  of  changed  conditions.  The  problems  be- 
fore him  were  two :  first,  to  control  the  other  great 
nobles ;  and  second,  to  keep  on  good  terms  with  the 
imperial  court  at  Kyoto,  from  which  the  Shogun 
derived  his  authority,  and  which  had  greatly  increased 
in  influence  through  Nobunaga's  care.  Accordingly, 
after  the  battle  of  Sekigahara,  he  showed  himself  very 
merciful,  putting  to  death  only  two  leaders  from 
among  the  prisoners ;  but  at  the  same  time  he  confis- 
cated the  estates  of  those  who  had  opposed  him,  and 
made  a  grand  redistribution  of  all  the  provinces  into 
two  hundred  and  ninety-five  Daimiates,  greater  or 
smaller,  the  rank  of  each  Daimyo  depending  on  his 
Vol.  I.-4  40 


50  JAPAN. 

revenue,  reckoned  in  kohu  (bushels)  of  rice.  (The 
number  of  Daimyo  was  afterward  increased  to  over 
three  hundred.)  In  this  distribution  Ieyasu  carefully 
surrounded  himself  in  the  Kwanto  by  members  of 
his  own  family  or  nobles  especially  attached  to  him- 
self, and  also  placed  others  of  tried  loyalty  beside 
those  likely  to  be  disaffected,  so  as  to  head  off  any 
large  conspiracy  against  him.  In  like  manner  he 
protected  the  road  to  Kyoto,  and  at  the  same  time 
took  care  to  reward  special  acts  of  valor  or  loyalty  by 
grants  of  land  and  rank  to  individual  knights. 

The  next  step  was  to  appoint  a  Board  of  Elders  to 
advise  with  the  Shogun  and  administrative  officers 
acting  under  them,  also  local  officers  throughout  all 
the  provinces — all,  of  course,  being  chosen  from  the 
nobles  who  were  faithful  to  Tokugawa.  This  body 
of  officials  formed  the  Bakufu,  or  Curtain  Govern- 
ment, so  named  from  the  tent-curtain  behind  which 
military  officers  consulted.  Later  the  influence  of  the 
Bakufu  became  very  great,  overshadowing  even  that 
of  the  Shogun  himself. 

It  would  have  been  hopeless  to  attempt  to  lessen 
the  authority  of  the  Daimyo  on  their  own  estates,  and 
Ieyasu's  administration  accordingly  provided  for  a 
high  degree  of  local  autonomy,  subject  to  certain 
strict  regulations  of  the  general  government ;  but  as 
an  offset  to  this  the  wily  Tokugawa  devised  the 
system  of  compulsory  residence  at  the  capital.  Ieyasu 
had  suggested  this  scheme,  but  it  was  only  completed 


THE  TOKUGAWA   AND  THE   RESTORATION.     51 

by  his  grandson,  Iemitsu,  who  carried  out  this  and 
many  other  details  of  the  first  Shogun's  system.  By 
it  each  Daimyo  was  required  to  spend  a  part  of 
every  other  year  in  Yedo,  and  to  leave  his  wife  and 
children  there  when  absent  in  his  province.  The  time 
of  going  and  coming  was  laid  down  by  rule  for  each 
prince,  and  so  contrived  that  neighbors  were  never  on 
their  lands  at  the  same  time.  Moreover,  as  a  further 
check,  lords  who  became  too  wealthy  were  apt  to  be 
ordered  to  undertake  public  works  at  their  own  ex- 
pense. 

This  traditional  Tokugawa  policy  of  keeping  check 
on  the  other  nobles  seems  to  have  been  at  the  bottom 
of  Iemitsu's  strange  exclusion  laws,  so  unlike  all 
Japanese  character  before  or  after.  The  southern 
clans  were  the  most  dangerous  rivals,  Satsuma  and 
Choshu  especially ;  and  it  wras  just  these  who  were 
nearest  the  ports  of  China,  from  which  the  strangers 
came,  and  who  would  gain  most  advantage  from 
foreign  trade  in  wealth  and  new  weapons.  Therefore 
not  only  Christianity,  but  all  Western  learning,  was 
forbidden,  and  the  Dutch  and  Chinese  alone  permitted 
to  trade,  under  humiliating  conditions,  at  Nagasaki. 
Ieyasu  had  sent  an  expedition  to  Mexico,  and  sanc- 
tioned certain  yearly  trading  excursions  of  Japanese 
to  Siam  and  China.  These  were  now  prohibited  by 
Iyemitsu,  and  a  later  edict  forbade  any  ships  to  be 
built  over  a  certain  small  size,  or  decked  sufficiently 
for   ocean    voyages.      These    laws  were  rigidly  kept 


52  JAPAN, 

till  the  opening  of  the  country  in  1854,  though 
others,  concerning  trade  with  the  Dutch  and  the 
export  of  metals,  were  probably  evaded. 

Toward  the  imperial  court  the  early  Tokugawa 
professed  the  utmost  loyalty,  providing  for  suitable 
revenues,  rebuilding  the  palace,  and  appointing  officers 
to  see  that  all  things  were  properly  conducted.  The 
"  Testament "  of  Ieyasu  —  a  somewhat  apocryphal 
document  on  government — declares  that  "  the  duty 
of  the  Shogun  is  to  protect  the  Emperor  against  all 
perils  which  may  threaten  him  in  his  palace,  and  to 
maintain  peace  throughout  the  empire.  .  .  .  When 
an  Emperor  ascends  the  throne,  it  is  his  (the  Sho- 
gun's)  duty  to  provide  abundantly  for  all  the  expenses 
of  the  coronation."  Iemitsu  further  formulated  the 
distinctions  between  the  Kuge,  or  Court  nobles,  and 
the  Buke,  the  military  lords,  who  had  charge  of  all 
practical  matters ;  all  of  which  regulations  tended  to 
deprive  the  Court  of  any  actual  power,  and  made  it 
possible  for  later  Shoguns  to  treat  the  Emperor  as 
a  mere  puppet;  and  this  in  turn  helped  to  bring 
about  the  reaction  and  the  downfall  of  the  Shogunate. 

The  Buke  Hato,  or  rules  of  the  Samurai,  were  not  less 
minute,  and  for  any  breach  there  was  but  one  honor- 
able atonement  —  hara-kiri  ("  body-cutting  ")  —  for 
which  the  second  short  sword  was  always  ready. 
The  Samurai  were  of  various  rank,  from  the  Shogun 
and  Daimyo  to  the  "  sandal-carriers."  The  retainers 
of  the  Tokugawa  were  called  Hatamoto,  and  ranked 


THE  TOKUGAWA    AND  THE   RESTORATION.    53 

above  the  retainers  of  lessor  lords.  But  whatever  his 
rank,  every  Samurai  enjoyed  certain  privileges  com- 
mon to  all,  such  as  the  right  to  a  family  name  and 
crest,  and  above  all  the  right  to  wear  two  swords, 
which  was  the  special  badge  of  the  class.  Every- 
body besides  nobles  and  Samurai  belonged  to  the 
"Cho-nin"  ("street  people"),  who  might  not  carry 
swords,  except  in  the  cast;  of  a  head-man  of  a  village, 
or  other  prominent  person  who  for  some  special 
service  was  given  the  honor  of  wearing  a  single  one 
Cho-nin  again  were  of  various  ranks,  farmers  stand- 
ins*  first — it  was  not  dishonorable  even  for  a  Samurai 
to  engage  in  farming  ;  then  artisans  ;  and  .last  of  all, 
merchants,  no  matter  how  wealthy,  for  the  Code 
taught  that  trade  was  in  its  nature  degrading.  Below 
these  were  only  the  Eta,  who  killed  and  skinned 
animals  and  did  the  lowest  tasks,  and  whose  exist- 
ence was  scarcely  recognized  by  law;  and  the  Hinin, 
utter  outcasts,  including  criminals  and  disgraced 
Samurai. 

The  Tokugawa  encouraged  formality  of  everv  kind 
as  a  check  on  the  fierce  spirits  of  the  warriors,  such, 
for  instance,  as  the  practice  of  cha-no-yu,  or  tea-cere- 
mony;  and  an  immense  impulse  was  also  added  by 
the  study  of  Chinese,  which  was  revived  just  at  this 
time.  It  came  about  almost  precisely  as  the  Renais- 
sance did  in  Europe,  through  the  fall  of  the  Ming- 
dynasty,  and  the  exile  of  many  savants,  who  fled 
from  Nankin  to  Japan,  and  were  received  by  Toku- 


54  JAPAN. 

gawa  and  Mito  and  others,  just  as  the  Medici  received 
Greek  refugees  alter  the  fall  of  Constantinople. 
Hitherto  men  who  wished  for  a  life  of  study  had 
become  priests ;  now  Samurai  were  forbidden  to  lay 
down  the  sword,  but  encouraged  to  use  their  studies 
for  the  benefit  of  the  State.  Ieyasu  set  the  example 
of  appointing  scholars  to  important  positions,  and  it 
became  the  fashion  for  Daimyo  to  retain  Kan-Gakasha 
(classical  students)  as  advisers  and  lecturers  in  their 
households.  Schools  for  knights  were  established 
and  patronized  by  the  great  lords,  and  the  Buddhist 
priests,  restored  to  high  favor  again  under  the  Toku- 
gawa  Shoguns,  held  schools  for  the  common  people  at 
nearly  every  temple.  Dramas  and  novels  by  the 
dozen  were  put  out  and  eagerly  read,  and  repeated 
everywhere  by  professional  story-tellers,  to  the  de- 
light, and  not  a  little  to  the  instruction,  of  the 
unlearned.  Samurai,  however,  were  not  permitted  to 
go  to  the  theatre.  The  doctrines  of  Lao-Tse  and 
Mencius,  and  above  all  the  iron-bound  regulations  of 
Confucius,  became  the  dominating  principles  of  the 
age.  Men  strove  after  a  more  rigorous  stoicism  than 
ever,  and  women  were  restricted  more  and  more  to 
domesticity  and  the  "  Three  Obediences  " — to  father, 
then  husband,  and  after  them  to  the  eldest  son. 

Along  with  Chinese  classics,  the  study  of  early 
Japanese  history  and  literature  was  revived.  The 
Prince  of  Mito,  grandson  of  Ieyasu,  kept  a  staff  of 
learned  men  at  work  for  years,  compiling  a  history 


THE  TOKUGAWA   AND  THE  RESTORATION.    55 

of  Japan,  in  two  hundred  and  forty  volumes;  and 
two  great  scholars — Mabuchi  and  bis  pupil,  Motoori 
— set  themselves  to  revive  the  use  of  pure  Yamato, 

the  original  Japanese  language  in  which  the  early 
literature  was  written,  which  had  been  overlaid  by  a 
mass  of  borrowed  Chinese  words  and  phrases.  The 
result  of  these  studies  was  a  wave  of  nationalism  and 
loyalty  to  the  Emperor  as  the  Son  of  Heaven,  and 
therewith  a  questioning  of  the  Shogun's  right  to 
supreme  authority;  all  of  which  combined,  with  the 
growing  social  evils  and  financial  difficulties,  brought 
on  by  luxury  and  extravagance,  to  produce  a  deep 
current  of  unrest  throughout  the  whole  nation. 

This  was  the  internal  situation  when  Commodore 
Perry  arrived  with  the  American  demand  for  treaty 
ports  and  intercourse.  Such  intercourse  was  undoubt- 
edly most  desirable  for  Japan,  as  well  as  for  the  other 
nations,  and  ports  of  call  for  fuel  and  water  abso- 
lutely necessary,  if  our  American  ships  were  to  sail 
the  Pacific;  but  as  to  the  often  boasted  peaceful oesa 
of  the  expedition— well,  there  is  something  appro- 
priate to  the  situation  in  Dean  Hole's  story  of  the 
cowboy  in  a  Western  church,  who  was  asked  to  take 
up  the  collection.  If  I  remember  rightly,  Fighting 
Bill  passed  the  hat  with  a  revolver  on  his  hip,  and 
the  congregation  "  panned  out"  handsomely.  Com- 
modore Perry  likewise  didn't  shoot;  he  merely  asked 
the  Shogun's  representatives  to  call  and  see  his  guns, 
and  told  them  stories  about  the  Opium  War  in  China, 


56  JAPAN. 

and  then  left,  promising  to  come  next  year.  The 
country  was  in  a  fever  of  excitement ;  arms  were  cast, 
troops  drilled,  forts  built.  But  happily  the  Shogun 
and  his  advisers  realized  the  situation  and  the  coun- 
try's weakness,  and  in  1854  they  signed  the  treaties. 
It  was  the  signal  for  a  storm ;  the  Emperor  refused 
to  ratify  the  agreement  and  ordered  the  barbarians 
expelled.  The  barbarians  declined  to  go,  but  rather 
came  in  greater  numbers  and  made  more  demands.  A 
Nationalist  party  arose,  the  Jo-iy  having  for  its  rally- 
ing cry,  "  Up  with  the  Emperor !  Down  with  the 
alien  ! "  The  clans  opposed  to  Tokugawa  joined  the 
league,  especially  the  three  most  powerful — Mito,  Sat- 
suma  and  Choshu.  In  1863  a  party  of  Mito  Samurai 
assassinated  the  Regent  Ii  Kamon,  who  favored  the 
foreigners.  Everywhere  the  treaties  were  used  as 
political  capital  against  the  Shogunate. 

In  1867  the  Emperor  Komei  died,  and  shortly 
after  the  Shogun  resigned,  giving  as  his  reason  that 
the  state  of  the  country  required  a  single  head,  and  it 
was  time  the  dual  system  should  be  done  away.  The 
"  Restoration "  dates  from  this  time ;  but  the  Toku- 
gawa clan  refused  to  submit  with  their  chief.  They 
drew  up  a  paper  declaring  that  the  young  Emperor 
was  misled  by  evil  advisers  of  Satsuma  and  Ckoshu, 
and  held  Yedo  against  the  Imperial  forces,  even 
taking  the  boy-prince,  who  was  nominal  Highpriest 
of  Uyeno,  and  calling  him  Emperor,  carrying  him 
off  with  them   to  Utsunomiya  and   Nikko.     It  is   a 


THE  TOKUGAWA   AND  THE   RESTORATION.     57 

terrible  record  of  fruitless  bravery.  The  Tokugawa 
had  more  modern  arms,  but  the  Imperial  name  car- 
ried weight,  and  little  by  little  the  Shogun's  followers 
were  forced  back,  as  elan  after  elan  gave  in  its  allegi- 
ance to  the  Emperor.  A  last  stand  was  made  in  the 
northwest,  at  Wakamatsu  Castle,  in  Aidzu,  and  after 
that  fell,  all  submitted  except  the  few  who  had  escaped 
by  sea  from  Yedo,  and  held  out  in  the  island  of  Yezo 
for  a  little  longer. 

In  the  changes  which  followed  it  was  not  the  Kuge 
nobles  or  the  Daimvo  who  took  a  leading  part,  but 
the  Samurai.  Many  of  their  names  are  familiar  in 
the  Cabinets  of  recent  years  ;  others  died  or  were 
killed  during  the  formative  period.  Such  were  Yo- 
shida,  put  to  death  by  the  Bakufu  ;  Kido,  who  dared 
propose  to  his  chief,  the  Lord  of  Satsuma,  the  abo- 
lition of  the  feudal  system,  and  who  died  in  Kyoto 
just  before  the  Satsuma  rebellion,  which  was  raised  in 
the  hope  of  restoring  that  system;  Okubo  and  Mori, 
victims  of  political  fanatics;  Saigo,  leader  of  the  Sat- 
suma rebellion,  dead  in  a  lost  cause ;  Count  Katsu, 
recently  deceased,  one  of  the  ablest  of  all ;  and  ana  in 
the  older  statesmen  of  to-day,  such  as  Marquis  Ito, 
Marshall  Marquis  Yamagata,  Count  Okuma.  They 
threw  a  dynamite  bomb  at  Okuma  in  1889  on  account 
of  his  too  foreign  views  on  Treaty  Revision,  but  he 
escaped  with  the  loss  of  a  leg.  Some  day  the  lives 
of  these  makers  of  New  Japan  will  be  written,  and 
the  story  will  read  like  the  wildest  romance. 


58  JAPAN. 

Kido's  suggestion  about  doing  away  with  feudalism 
was  backed  by  a  powerful  agent — namely,  want  of 
money.  Nearly  every  great  lord  was  at  his  wits'  end 
to  provide  for  his  retainers ;  so  long  as  they  were 
ready  to  fight  for  him,  so  long  must  he  find  them  rice 
according  to  their  rank,  and  the  economic  changes,  due 
in  part  to  the  opening  of  the  country,  made  this  yearly 
more  and  more  difficult.  Clan  after  clan  took  up  the 
new  idea.  Choshu,  Satsuma,  Tosa — all  the  greater 
ones  united  in  proposing  to  the  Emperor  to  give  up 
their  feudal  rights  and  duties,  and  in  compelling  the 
lesser  nobles  to  do  the  same.  The  Samurai  were  ac- 
cordingly released  from  their  allegiance,  and  in  the 
same  moment  deprived  of  the  revenues  which  for 
generations  had  come  regularly  without  any  thought 
on  their  part — which  it  was  utterly  against  all  their 
training  for  them  to  think  about  at  all.  At  first  a 
small  yearly  grant  was  made  to  each ;  then  a  lump 
sum  presented,  with  which  they  were  expected  to 
begin  life  for  themselves.  The  full  misery  of  those 
days  only  Samurai  can  know.  Brought  up  to  believe 
that  the  very  knowledge  of  money  was  something 
utterly  unworthy,  their  attempts  at  business  were 
pitiful  beyond  words.  Nearly  all  lost  their  entire 
capital  in  a  few  months  through  sheer  lack  of  what  an 
American  would  call  "  business  sense."  All  who 
could  got  into  government  service  in  some  form  or 
other,  many  becoming  policemen,  that  they  might  still 
serve  the  Emperor  and  wear  a  sword.     Hearn  has 


THE  TOKUGAWA   AND  THE   RESTORATION.     50 

written  many  sad  little  stories  of  that  time,  which  has 

its  nearest  parallel,   perhaps,  in  the  condition  of  our 
own  Southern  States  alter  the  war. 

Of  course  the  dire  consequences  of  the  changes 
brought  protests  from  many  sides,  and  the  discontent 
culminated  in  the  Satsnma  Rebellion  of  1878-9,  led 
by  General  Saigo,  *he  man  who  had  commanded  the 
Imperial  forces  in  the  War  of  the  Restoration — a 
great,  pure  soul,  set  singly  on  bringing  back  the  old 
heroic  ideals  which  he  saw  being  swept  away.  The 
struggle  was  hopeless  from  the  first,  and  when  it  was 
over  and  Saigo  had  fallen  by  his  own  hand,  the  last 
clan  gave  in  its  entire  loyalty. 

Since  then  the  difficulties  of  the  government  have 
been  financial  and  social  ones ;  so  many  reforms  have 
had  to  be  made,  so  much  done  to  bring  Japan  to  the 
position  she  longs  for  among  the  other  nations,  that 
friction  is  inevitable,  and  the  marvel  is,  as  Weston 
savs,1  that  the  country  can  make  such  radical  changes 
and  yet  retain  its  own  intense  individuality. 

The  Emperor  Mutsuhito,  who  came  to  the  throne 
in  1867,  gave  his  reign  the  auspicious  name  of  Meiji 
(Enlightenment).  In  1881  he  promised  a  Constitu- 
tion and  a  representative  government,  but  the  country 
was  not  yet  ready  for  such  a  step ;  and,  in  point  of 
fact,  the  Constitution  was  not  promulgated  till  1889, 
and  the  first  Parliament  elected  the  following  summer. 
The  plan  is  based  chiefly  on  the  Constitution  of  Ger- 

1  "  Japanese  Alps." 


60  JAPAN. 

many,  on  the  ground  that  Japan's  social  condition  is 
nearer  to  hers  than  to  any  others;  but  certain  ele- 
ments have  been  borrowed  from  England  and  some 
from  France.  There  is  an  Upper  House,  partly 
hereditary,  partly  elected  from  the  lesser  nobility, 
partly  nominated  by  the  Emperor  from  any  class  on 
the  ground  of  learning  and  ability;  and  a  Lower 
House,  chosen  by  ballot,  the  franchise  being  limited  by 
a  considerable  property  requirement — namely,  fifteen 
yen  direct  tax  for  one  year  in  the  voter's  district,  or 
three  years'  income  tax  of  the  same  amount  in  one  place. 
The  Cabinet  is  responsible  to  the  Emperor  and  not  to 
Parliament,  which  can  manifest  its  displeasure  only 
by  refusing  to  vote  the  appropriations.  The  Liberals 
want  to  introduce  responsible  Cabinets,  but  Count 
Okuma  and  many  other  statesmen  think  the  country 
is  not  ready — that  for  the  present  the  Cabinet  must, 
in  the  main,  lead  the  country,  instead  of  merely 
carrying  out  its  wishes  expressed  at  an  election,  as  in 
England.  To  tell  the  truth,  Parliamentary  matters 
do  not  work  very  smoothly  as  yet,  at  least  in  the 
Lower  House  ;  the  Upper  does  better,  being  more 
conservative  and  mature,  and  also  more  apt  to  be  in 
sympathy  with  the  Cabinet.  There  are  parties  galore, 
and  they  split  and  combine  and  play  each  other  off 
with  bewildering  facility ;  but  in  the  meantime  the 
government  goes  on  steadily  and  quietly,  with  now 
and  then  a  conservative  movement,  but  on  the  whole 
ever  towards  greater  progress  and  enlightenment. 


THE  TOKUGAWA   AND  THE  RESTORATION.     61 

A  complete  system  of  national  education  was  sug- 
gested by  Kido,  and  fully  planned  out  by  Viscount 
Arinori  Mori  on  his  return  from  service  as  Minister 
to  Washington.  The  plan  is  based  largely  on  the 
German  system,  with  some  American  modifications. 
It  provides  a  graded  course  leading  to  the  universi- 
ties, which  so  far  are  two — Tokyo  and  the  rather 
recent  Kyoto  University.  Of  course,  only  men  are 
admitted  to  the  universities.  The  highest  school  for 
girls  is  the  Higher  Normal,  which  prepares  for  ad- 
vanced examinations  for  teachers'  certificates,  and  is 
about  equal  to  the  men's  higher  schools,  which  pre- 
pare for  the  university.  In  the  boys'  schools  military 
training  is  carried  on  all  the  way  through,  and  counts 
toward  the  term  of  service  afterward,  which  is  com- 
pulsory, as  in  Germany. 

The  army  has  been  nearly  doubled  since  the  war 
with  China  in  1895-6,  or  rather  is  to  be  so  increased 
inside  of  eight  years  from  that  date.  It  is  no  secret 
that  the  government  is  straining  every  nerve  to  per- 
fect the  navy,  which  must  always  be  the  best  defence 
of  an  island  nation,  and  the  people  are  with  it  to  a 
man.  Besides  the  ten  ships  captured  from  China, 
which  made  a  fleet  of  forty-three  vessels  by  the 
end  of  the  war,  seven  new  armored  cruisers  have 
already  been  added,  built  in  America  and  England, 
of  which  the  Fuji  and  the  Yashima  are  over 
twelve  thousand  tons,  and  more  are  to  follow,  with 
torpedo   boats  and    torpedo   destroyers,  and   all    the 


62  JAPAN. 

rest  of  the  horrid  train.  Along  with  this  policy  for 
the  navy  goes  that  of  building  up  a  merchant  marine, 
by  means  of  subsidies  for  large  vessels  and  lines 
chartered  for  trans-oceanic  trade,  such  as  the  Nippon 
Yusen  Kaisha,  Avhich  sends  lines  to  America,  Europe 
and  Australia,  as  well  as  to  comparatively  near  ports, 
like  Hong  Kong,  Bombay  and  Vladivostok.  So  far, 
it  is  to  be  feared,  these  lines  have  had  to  let  their 
pride  keep  them  warm,  as  the  saying  is ;  but,  if  they 
can  hold  out,  they  will  surely  win  a  place  in  time,  for 
the  Japanese  are  born  seamen,  and  their  ships  are 
immaculately  clean,  the  table  fair  and  the  service 
excellent.  The  Orient  Line  (To  Yo  Kisen  Kaisha) 
has  already  the  best  ships  sailing  between  San  Fran- 
cisco and  Japan. 

Since  the  war  with  China,  the  great  event  has  been 
the  Revised  Treaties,  granted  in  1896,  first  by  Eng- 
land, then  America,  Germany  and  all  the  rest,  and 
going  into  effect  in  1899.  The  principal  points  are 
"  mixed  residence  " — i.  e.,  permission  to  foreigners  to 
live  and  do  business  anywhere  in  the  empire,  instead 
of  only  in  the  Treaty  ports ;  and,  on  the  other  hand, 
tariff  autonomy  for  Japan,  and  the  doing  away  of  the 
irritating  "  Extra  Territoriality  "  and  Consular  Juris- 
diction. Whatever  other  effects  this  may  have,  at 
least  Japan's  pride  is  satisfied,  and  she  is  much 
less  restlessly  anxious  to  have  her  position  recog- 
nized ;  and  two  years  have  already  almost  passed 
without   any  of  the  awful   experiences  of    Japanese 


THE   TOKUGAWA  AND  THE  RESTORATION.     63 

law  predicted  by  the  Kobe  Herald  and  its  fellow 
Japan-haters. 

In  1897  the  gold  standard  was  adopted,  with  the 
yen  fixed  at  fifty  cents  American  money,  and  silver 
yen  to  be  redeemed  by  the  government  at  that  rate 
within  a  specified  time.  It  was  a  risky  measure,  and 
against  the  judgment  of  many  thinkers,  both  Japanese 
and  foreign  ;  but  it  seems  to  have  turned  out  well  on 
the  whole,  and  nobody  accuses  it  of  the  general  rise 
in  prices  "  since  the  war/'  which  has  gone  on  faster 
than  ever  of  late. 

But  of  details  of  policy  it  seems  hopeless  to  speak  ; 
what  is  true  to-day  will  be  ancient  history  to-morrow, 
for  New  Japan  grows  like  the  young  child  that  she  is, 
or  like  a  stalk  of  her  spring  bamboo,  on  which  the 
Japanese  Munchausen  hung  his  hat  one  night,  and  in 
the  morning  found  it  above  the  tree-tops. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

KAMAKURA — A   FORSAKEN   CITY. 

"  Representons-nous  done  le  golfe  de  Sagarni  et  Kamakura,  lea 
collines  boisees,  la  ville  aux  fortes  murailles;  la  baie  tranquille,  oil 
glissent  les  voiles.  .  .  .  All  bord  de  la  mer,  dans  les  rues  de  la  ville, 
quelle  activite !  pecheurs,  forgerons,  marchands  de  toutes  sortes,  et 
les  processions  des  bonzes  vetus  d'or  et  de  pourpre  sous  la  pluie  des 
fleurs,  dans  la  fumee  d'encens,  et  les  corteges  des  daimio  revenant  de 
la  chasse  ou  de  la  guerre." — Mis.  de  la  Mazeliere,  "  Histoire  du 
Japon." 

"  Whoso  will,  from  pride  released, 
Contemning  neither  man  nor  beast, 
May  hear  the  soul  of  all  the  East 
About  him  at  Kamakura. 

"  Yea,  voice  of  every  soul  that  sprung 

From  life  that  strove  from  rung  to  rung, 

When  Devadatta's  rule  was  young, 

The  warm  winds  bring  Kamakura." 

— Kipling. 

Two  little  fishing  villages,  mere  clusters  of  tumble- 
down huts — that  is  all  there  is  left  of  what  was  once 
a  city  of  nearly  a  million  people,  the  sumptuous  capi- 
tal of  Yoritomo  and  the  Ashikaga  Shoguns. 

Going  south  from  Yokohama,  the  train  leaves  the 
main  line  at  Ofuna  Junction  for  the  Yokosuka 
branch,  and  plunging  through  short  tunnels,  and  in 

64 


KAMAKURA— A  FORSAKEN  CITY.  65 

and  out  among  abrupt  heights  and  valleys,  presently 
drops  you  out  on  the  edge  of  a  tiny  plain,  level  as  a 
floor  to  the  very  wall   of  the  hills.     A  sandy  road 
crosses  between  rice  and  millet  fields  to  the  long,  low 
"  Foreign  Hotel,"  the   Kai-Hin-in,  or  Seaside   Sani- 
tarium— a  pleasant  house,  where  European  ways  and 
wants  are  understood  and  provided  for.      It  stands 
just  back  from  the  sea,  hidden  from  it  by  a  strip  of 
slender  pines,  twisted  and  slanted  by  the  wind,  and 
beyond  these  again  by  irregular  sand  dunes,  grown 
over   with    heavy,    coarse   grass   and  tangled  weeds. 
Following  a  little  footpath  to  the  top,  the  sweep  of 
the  bay  breaks  before  you,  a  perfect  crescent,  finished 
at  either  end  by  a  bold,  wooded  headland.     Tucked 
away  in  the  shelter  of  each  curve  is  a  little  village  of 
gray,   thatched   houses,   creeping  almost  to  the  tide- 
line,  where  rows  of  narrow  sampans  lie  beached,  their 
long  oars  inside.     The  people  here,  as  in  most  of  the 
hamlets  along  the  coast,  combine   fishing  with  farm- 
ing, the  women  and  children  of  the  family  doing  a 
large  share  of  the  field  work.     Picturesque  as  they 
are,   these  villages   under   the   cliffs   have   a  certain 
wind-blown,  weather-beaten    look,    quite    unlike   the 
trim  tidiness  of  the  little  "  Strassdorfer,"  as  the  Ger- 
mans would  say,  which  bead  the  great  Tokaido  high- 
way.    The  old  thatch  is  beautifully  moss-grown,  but 
many  of  the  tiny  cabins  are  not  even  thatched,  only 
roughly  shingled — sure  sign  of  poverty  in  Japan — 
and  their  mud-plastered  walls  are  cracked  and  broken. 
Vol.  I. — 5 


(5(5  JAPAN. 

But  the  lean,  sinewy  men  and  dumpy  women  look 
sturdy  and  cheerful,  and  the  country  children  are  de- 
lightful, if  not  over-clean — fat,  round-faced,  brown 
cherubs,  with  narrow,  bright  eyes  and  most  beguiling 
grins,  who  come  straying  along  the  beach  with  the 
usual  load  of  babies,  in  hopes  of  selling  a  few  shells 
and  bits  of  stone  or  coral  to  the  Ijln  San  (Mr.,  Mrs. 
or  Miss  Foreigner).  Here  at  the  tide-line  something 
is  always  going  on.  One  of  the  most  picturesque 
moments  is  when  the  boats  come  in,  and  the  rowers 
steer  swiftly  through  the  line  of  surf,  and  then  spring 
out,  bare-legged,  into  the  foam,  with  garments  tucked 
about  their  waists,  and  drag  the  long,  narrow  craft 
far  up  the  yellow  sand,  while  the  women  flock  down 
to  help  with  the  unloading.  Dragging  the  nets  is 
another  interesting  sight.  A  dozen  or  twenty  men, 
more  or  less  clad  according  to  the  season,  stand  on 
the  shore,  pulling  in  line  on  a  long  rope.  Sometimes 
they  haul  and  coil  away  for  hours,  the  brown  fish- 
baskets  lying  idle  on  the  sand,  till  at  last  the  great 
mesh  is  brought  close  in  and  the  take  can  be  gath- 
ered. 

Yet  another  harvest  the  tide  brings— the  great 
masses  of  seaweed  that  are  washed  up  by  the  spring 
and  autumn  storms.  It  is  all  eagerly  gathered,  the 
women  going  over  the  piles  and  carefully  picking  out 
the  edible  varieties ;  for  the  Japanese  are  very  fond 
of  seaweed,  and  there  are  several  choice  kinds  much 
eaten  as  a  relish — and  very  good  they  are,  too,  when 


KAMAKURA— A   FORSAKEN   CITY.  67 

you  once  get  used  to  a  flavor  of  oyster-shells !  These 
special  sorts  are  separately  dried  and  prepared  for 
market ;  the  rest  is  spread  out  on  coarse  mats  along 
the  shore,  and  watched  and  turned  for  days.  This, 
too,  is  work  for  the  women,  and  the  old  men  who  are 
too  rheumatic  to  go  out  with  the  boats.  At  last, 
when  it  is  thoroughly  dry,  it  is  beaten  fine  with  a 
flail,  sifted  through  basket  sieves  and  packed  down  in 
sacks,  to  be  shipped  for  fertilizing  the  fields  inland. 

To  an  American,  all  this  manipulation  speaks  vol- 
umes as  to  Japanese  "  intensive  "  methods  of  cultiva- 
tion ;  and,  in  truth,  the  entire  little  plain  itself  is 
tended  like  a  garden,  and  always  green  or  brown  or 
golden  with  crops.  A  little  of  everything  in  Japan 
seems  grown  on  these  tiny  holdings,  none  of  which 
are  more  than  an  acre  or  two  in  extent.  There  is 
rice,  of  course,  and  barley,  and  a  few  rows  of  beans, 
a  little  rape,  a  little  wheat,  a  little  cotton,  and  brown- 
tasseled  millet,  to  be  gathered  and  dried  and  beaten 
out  on  mats  by  the  roadside  at  the  cottage  doors. 
Quantities  of  big,  mealy  sweet  potatoes  are  raised  at 
Kamakura.  "  Satsuma  imo"  they  call  them  in  Japan, 
because  they  really  belong  to  the  southern  province. 
They  are  very  cheap,  and  are  considered  very  plebeian 
food,  only  fit  for  coolies.  And  last — surely  this  should 
endear  it  to  an  American  heart ! — the  region  is  famous 
for  an  excellent  quality  of  peanuts.  These,  too,  are 
dried  by  the  wayside ;  indeed,  everything  is  spread 
out  at  the  door,  just  as  in  Italy,  including  the  long 


68  JAPAN. 

strips  of  buckwheat  macaroni — o  sobay  as  they  call  it 
— and  the  tasteless  rice-flour  wafers,  which  are  a 
luxury  of  the  very  poor.  Naturally  there  is  dust ; 
but  what  will  you  have?  They  are  not  princes  or 
Americans,  these  people,  that  they  should  waste  good 
crop-land  on  such  matters. 

And  all  around  the  quiet  plain  circle  the  steep, 
tumbled  hills,  dark  with  heavy  masses  of  pine  and  fir 
and  the  thick-leaved  evergreen  oak.  Summer  cot- 
tages of  foreigners  or  wealthy  Japanese  climb  the 
sides  here  and  there ;  but  that  is  all.  The  charcoal- 
burners  go  where  once  there  were  barriers  and  knights 
in  armor  guarding  every  approach,  in  the  days  when 
temples  and  houses  and  palaces  filled  all  the  level  and 
overflowed  up  the  ravines  between  the  slopes.  Yori- 
tomo  founded  it  at  the  end  of  the  twelfth  century — 
Yoritomo,  of  the  house  of  Minamoto,  eldest  of  the 
three  baby  sons  with  whom  their  mother,  Tokiwa, 
fled  from  the  massacre  of  their  kin.  You  see  her 
often,  in  Japanese  prints  and  kakemono,  trudging 
through  blinding  snow,  Yoshitsune  in  her  arms,  and 
Yoritomo  and  little  JSoboyori  clinging  to  her  hands. 
She  it  was  who  gave  herself  up  to  save  her  mother, 
whom  Kiyomori  had  captured,  and  by  her  beauty  won 
over  Kiyomori  to  spare  the  boys,  in  an  evil  hour  for 
himself;  for  hair-cutting  and  enforced  monastic  vows 
worked  no  better  than  at  certain  periods  of  European 
history.  Marvelous  are  the  legends  of  their  boyhood, 
especially  of  Yoshitsune,   "  the   young    bull,"  as  the 


KAMAKURA-A   FORSAKEN   CITY.  69 

unhappy  monks  called  him ;  how,  when  they  brought 
him  the  conventual  frock,  he  would  none  of  it,  de- 
manding a  sword  instead  ;  or  how,  in  the  depths  of 
the  forest,  he  took  fencing  lessons  from  a  Tengu,  or 
goblin — a  strange,  winged  creature,  which  hops  on 
one  leg  and  plays  something  like  the  part  of  a  Ger- 
man troll  in  Japanese  folk-lore.  The  lads  grew  up 
to  rally  their  clan,  and  presently  the  fierce  old  Kiyo- 
mori  of  Taira,  dying,  desires  only  "  the  head  of 
Minamoto-no-Yoritomo  to  be  laid  on  my  grave."  But 
Yoritomo's  head  stayed  fast — and  it  was  no  common 
head  either,  but  one  that  knew  how  to  take  advantage 
of  the  storm  of  hate  Kiyomori's  arrogance  and  cruelty 
had  roused;  and  once  in  power,  he  ruled  justly  and 
with  a  mighty  hand,  bringing  peace  and  order,  after 
the  years  of  tumult.  He  it  was  who  established  the 
feudal  system  on  a  workable  basis — "  gave  it  a  con- 
stitution and  a  hierarchy,"  says  de  la  Mazeliere ;  and 
he  who  also  established  the  hereditary  Shogunate, 
that  strange  "Dual  System"  which  only  ended  in 
1868. 

First  Yoritomo's  military  camp  was  here  at  Kama- 
kura ;  then  his  scarcely  less  military  court.  Here, 
too,  he  wrought  the  injustice  and  treachery  toward 
Yoshitsune,  his  brother,  that  forever  darkens  his 
name ;  for  the  younger  was  stronger,  braver,  everv- 
where  beloved,  and  though  he  had  fought  Yoritomo's 
battles,  and  in  truth  won  him  his  power,  yet — perhaps 
for  that  very  reason — the  Shogun  was  jealous  and  dis- 


70  JAPAN. 

trusted  Yosbitsune.  Long  weeks  he  kept  him  waiting 
over  here  across  the  hills  at  Koshigoe,  not  permitting 
him  to  enter  the  city,  although  he  had  come  bringing 
a  Taira  chief  who  had  made  submission,  refusing  to 
heed  his  protestations  of  innocence,  till  Yoshitsune 
gave  up  in  despair  and  went  back  to  Kyoto.  Then 
Yoritomo  sent  a  spy  to  kill  him,  and  Yoshitsune 
killed  the  spy  and  denounced  the  Shogun  to  the 
Emperor;  and  so  back  and  forth,  plot  and  counter- 
plot, till  at  last,  a  fugitive  in  the  wild  northern  prov- 
inces, Yoshitsune  and  his  faithful  henchman,  Benkei, 
were  treacherously  murdered  by  the  Shogun's  order, 
or,  perhaps,  killed  themselves  when  all  was  lost — no 
one  knows.  And  here,  under  the  hill,  below  the 
Kwannon  temple,  they  set  up  a  stage,  that  Yoshitsune's 
beautiful  favorite,  Shizuka,  now  Yoritomo's  captive, 
might  dance  a  sacred  dance  and  sing  the  triumphs  of 
the  Shogun.  So  she  came,  the  beautiful  woman,  more 
beautiful  than  ever,  in  a  wonderful  dress ;  but,  instead 
of  Yoritomo's  praises,  she  made  a  song  of  her  own, 
and  wove  it  in  the  dance — how  Yoshitsune  fought 
and  suffered,  and  of  his  innocence  and  betrayal  and 
death.  But  the  people  say  their  hero  could  not  die ; 
they  believed  he  fled  to  Yezo,  where,  strangely  enough, 
the  Ainu  to  this  day  worship  a  god  by  his  name.  And 
others  say  he  escaped  to  Asia,  and  reigned  there  many 
years,  being  no  other  than  the  great  Zenghis  Khan. 

Kublai  Khan,  though,  grandson  of  Zenghis,  comes 
really  and  genuinely  into  Kamakura's  history ;  for  a 


KAMAKURA— A   FORSAKEN  CITY.  71 

generation  after  Yoritorao  lie  sent  to  demand  tribute 
from  Japan.  Nor  was  he  entirely  outside  of  his  rights, 
for  annual  gifts  had  really  been  given  to  the  Emperor 
of  China  in  a  loose  sort  of  way  in  the  earlier  centuries 
of  our  era.  However,  it  had  been  discontinued  for 
generations,  and  Japan  was  in  no  way  disposed  to  re- 
new it.  The  first  set  of  ambassadors  returned  empty; 
the  second  likewise.  It  may  have  been  the  fourth  or 
fifth  legate  who  was  taken  down  to  the  shore  here  and 
beheaded,  as  a  "  demonstration  "  we  should  say  now. 
The  invasion  which  followed  was  repulsed  in  the 
southern  island,  Kiushiu,  and  a  second  still  greater 
one  held  in  check  till  the  Emperor  made  pilgrimage 
to  Yamada  in  Ise  and  prayed  at  the  shrine  of  his  an- 
cestor, the  Sun  Goddess;  whereupon,  say  the  chroni- 
cles, a  terrific  storm  arose  and  all  but  destroyed  the 
Chinese  fleet;  and  that  was  the  end  of  continental 
claims  on  Japan. 

The  chief  "  sight "  of  Kamakura,  in  a  guide-book 
sense,  dates  back  almost  to  Yoritomo's  time ;  it  is  the 
bronze  Daibutsu,  or  colossal  image  of  Buddha,  so 
often  pictured  and  described.  Tradition  says  that 
Yoritomo  greatly  desired  to  build  such  an  image,  but 
could  not  accomplish  it,  and  about  fifty  years  after  his 
death — at  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century — 
some  pious  lady  of  the  court  carried  out  his  wish. 
The  figure  is  an  Amida  (the  Buddha  of  light  and  wis- 
dom), seated,  the  hands  in  the  lap,  palms  up  and 
thumbs  together,  in  the  traditional  attitude  of  contem- 


72  JAPAN. 

plation.  He  sits  on  a  stone  platform,  in  a  little  gorge 
under  the  open  sky,  in  springtime  up  to  his  shoulders 
in  cherry  bloom,  for,  after  his  temple  had  been  twice 
destroyed  by  tidal  waves,  it  was  not  again  rebuilt ; 
and  for  three  hundred  years  he  has  been  one  of  the 
"  wet  gods,"  as  the  Japanese  say. 

Perhaps  the  best  time  to  see  the  Daibutsu  is  under 
a  cloudy  sky,  or  late  in  the  afternoon,  when  the  sun 
has  just  gone  behind  the  hills;  the  absence  of  shadows, 
the  flatness,  so  to  speak,  of  the  light  all  going  to 
heighten  the  motionless  calm  of  the  figure.  Like  all 
true  colossi,  he  does  not  seem  so  very  big  at  first.  One 
has  to  be  told  that  he  is  all  but  fifty  feet  high ;  that 
the  "jewel "  on  his  forehead — it  is  a  ball  of  pare  sil- 
ver— is  over  a  foot  across  ;  that  his  mouth  measures 
three  feet  and  his  face  eight  or  nine.  A  modern 
Liberty  or  Victory  standing  by  on  the  platform  might 
peep — on  tiptoe — over  his  placid  shoulder,  only  to  be 
dwarfed  into  a  fussy,  overgrown  puppet  beside  his 
still  dignity. 

The  image  follows  closely  the  earlier  types  of  Nara 
and  Kyoto.  The  folds  of  drapery  fall  straight  and 
barely  indicated ;  all  the  forms  are  large,  rounded,  yet 
never  puffy  ;  the  nude  parts  treated  absolutely  without 
detail.  The  face  is  equally  typical ;  the  broad  fore- 
head, the  full  child  mouth,  the  eyes,  closed  all  but  the 
narrowest  of  slits — yet  he  is  not  sleepy.  Behind 
those  lids  the  god  is  alert  with  an  intensity  the  keener 
because  so  removed — the  alertness  of    concentration. 


KAMAKURA— A   FORSAKEN  CITY.  73 

This  is  no  repose,  rather  an  immovable,  passionle-s 
calm,  as  far  from  ease  as  from  stiffness  or  stolidity. 
Negation,  remoteness,  repression.  Surely  these  are  the 
attributes  of  this  great  God  of  Self-Control.  What, 
then,  did  the  maker  mean  ?  Did  he  think  only  of  the 
Buddha  who  overcame  desire,  the  example  all  men 
should  seek  to  follow  ?  Or  did  he  dream,  too,  of  the 
Compassionate  One,  whose  love  and  pity  were  for  all 
living  things?  If  so,  then  however  faintly  expressed, 
in  his  heart  at  least  Avas  a  glimpse  of  the  world's 
desire — the  All-Pure  who  yet  can  care  for  sin  and 
sorrow. 

To  climb  inside  the  figure  is  not  a  little  disenchant- 
ing ;  the  effect  on  one's  feelings  is  like  going  into  a 
bell-tower  as  the  chimes  die  away,  and  seeing  all  the 
wheels  and  pulleys  by  which  the  music  was  made. 
Still,  every  one  goes  and  will  go,  and  perhaps  it  is 
worth  while,  because  only  so  do  you  get  a  true  idea 
of  the  actual  size  of  the  statue.  There  is  a  low  en- 
trance cut  in  the  side  of  the  lotus  flower  which  forms 
the  seat,  and  through  this  you  pass  in  and  find  a  lad- 
der, by  which  to  mount  into  the  head,  and  peer  out 
of  a  little  window  into  the  tops  of  the  cherry  trees. 
There  is  also  a  small  shrine  inside,  dedicated  to 
Kwannon,  the  Goddess  of  Mercy,  and  a  tablet  in- 
scribed with  a  sacred  text  in  Chinese  characters. 
The  construction  can  be  better  understood  from  here, 
too.  The  figure  was  cast  in  separate  sheets  of  metal 
and  run  together  in  position,  and  finally  finished  out- 


74  JAPAX. 

side  with  the  carver's  chisel.  The  inner  surface  is 
rough  and  shapeless,  and  the  whole  cavity  dusty  and 
unattractive,  with  a  sort  of  unnecessary  ugliness  that 
one  resents,  particularly  in  Japan,  where  most  of  life 
is  made  so  scrupulously  beautiful. 

There  is  another  famous  statue  at  Kamakura,  held 
very  sacred  by  devout  Japanese,  though  in  workman- 
ship it  is  greatly  inferior  to  the  Daibutsu.  This  is  a 
colossal  figure  of  Kwannon,  the  merciful — the  Eleven- 
Faced  Kwannon — who  wears  for  a  head-dress  ten 
smiling  little  faces  of  herself.  According  to  tradition, 
this  figure  and  another  were  carved  by  two  of  the  gods 
themselves  from  the  trunk  of  a  huge  camphor  tree ; 
and  this  one,  being  cast  into  the  sea,  traveled  all  the 
way  from  Yamato  to  Kamakura,  and  was  brought 
ashore  by  some  fishermen.  The  temple  itself  is  large, 
but  not  otherwise  remarkable,  except  for  its  beautiful 
situation,  far  up  the  side  of  the  hill,  commanding  a 
wid^  view.  It  is  reached  by  three  flights  of  broad 
stone  steps,  time-worn  and  greened  with  moss  and 
lichens.  Noble  old  trees  stand  around  and  behind, 
and  the  delicate  dwarf  maples  that  put  out  crimson 
leaves  in  the  spring ;  and  between  the  branches  you 
look  down  on  the  tiny  checker-board  of  a  plain,  and 
the  cliffs  opposite,  and  the  curving  bay,  where,  as  they 
say,  those  pious  fishermen  found  the  image  of  Kwan- 
non floating  in  a  halo  of  marvelous  light.  The  figure 
is  not  bronze,  but  wood  covered  with  gold  lacquer, 
and  it  seems  to  glow  still  in  the  dim  inner  shrine 


KAMAKURA— A   FORSAKEN   CITY.  75 

where  it  stands,  lighted  only  by  a  few  pale  lamps. 
They  do  not  show  it  at  all  times,  but  at  certain  festi- 
vals, or  in  response  to  special  offerings.  Artistically. 
a  small  bronze  Buddha  in  a  side  shrine  is  of  far  more 
value.  It  dates  from  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury, the  time  of  the  Ashikaga  Shoguus  at  Kamakura, 
which  was  one  of  the  most  brilliant  periods  of  Japan- 
ese art.  Outside,  near  the  entrance,  there  is  a  quaint 
life-sized  figure  of  Binzuru,  a  very  popular  deity  with 
the  unlettered  classes,  the  touch  of  whose  image  is  be- 
lieved to  have  healing  powers.  He  sits  outside,  be- 
cause, although  he  was  one  of  the  "  Sixteen  Disciples 
of  Buddha  " — the  Rakan — he  once  marred  his  saiut- 
ship  by  noticing  the  beauty  of  a  woman,  and  may  not 
therefore  come  inside  the  temple  itself. 

Then  there  is  Engakuji,  which  has  a  bell  eight  feet 
high,  the  largest  in  Kamakura,  though  hardly  more 
than  two-thirds  the  size  of  the  great  bells  at  Kyoto 
and  Nara ;  not  hung  in  a  bell-tower,  but,  as  all  Japan- 
ese bells  are,  placed  in  a  sort  of  open  shed,  with  a 
curving,  pagoda-like  roof.  Likewise  there  is  a  small 
temple  to  Emma,  the  Buddhist  god  of  the  lower 
regions,  who  judges  the  dead  according  to  their  deeds, 
sending  them  blessedness  or  torment.  The  image  in 
this  temple  is  said  to  be  a  memory  portrait  made  by 
one  Unkei,  who  died  and  came  to  life  again,  sent 
back  by  the  dread  judge  himself  to  show  his  likeness 
to  men.  It  is  hideous  rather  than  awful,  like  the  devils 
of  mediaeval  Europe.     The  priests  add  to  the  effect 


7G  JAPAN. 

by  keeping  it  behind  a  curtain,  which  they  draw  aside 
suddenly,  revealing  the  squat  figure  and  open  mouth, 
and  ferocious  eyes  glaring  out  of  the  dusky  shrine. 
Also  there  is  Kenchoji,  of  which  Hearn  writes  with  a 
sympathetic  enthusiasm  most  of  us  cannot  share ;  for 
it  is  old  and  faded  and  dusty,  the  carvings  broken 
and  the  color  scaling  away.  Only  the  great  "Third 
Gate"  still  keeps  something  of  its  stately  magnificence. 
Another  and  much  more  popular  shrine  stands  higher 
on  the  hill — so  popular,  indeed,  that  special  trains  run 
to  Kamakura  on  the  days  of  its  festival ;  but  it  has 
no  interest  for  the  tourist  unless  on  such  days,  and 
those  who  come  here  at  all  come  to  see  the  grounds  at 
Kenchoji  and  the  fine  old  junipers.  Of  course,  a 
Japanese  will  make  a  garden  of  a  sand  heap  or  a 
bulrush  swamp,  but  here  at  the  edge  of  the  hills  they 
have  only  had  to  encourage  nature — to  guard  a  tall 
pine  here  and  flood  a  lotus  pool  there.  Lotus — 
Buddha's  flower — is  much  in  evidence  at  Kamakura. 
A  bronze  lotus  leaf  receives  the  fountain  at  Kenchoji ; 
the  flower  is  carved,  in  conventional  rendering,  on 
stone  balustrades  and  tomb-stele  and  lanterns,  and 
Buddhas  stand  enthroned  on  the  petals ;  while  in  July 
and  August  the  temple  ponds  are  brilliant  with  the 
sumptuous  great  blossoms,  rose-pink  and  white, 
against  the  peculiar  bluish  green  of  the  leaves,  which 
look  like  weathered  bronze. 

Many  other  temples  there  are  among  the  hills  and 
ravines,  survivals  of  the  lost  city,  all   more  or  less 


KAMAKURA— A  FORSAKEN   CITY.  77 

forsaken  and  dilapidated,  and  none  of  any  real  interest 
except  the  one  dedicated  to  Hachiman,  God  of  War, 
on  the  far  side  of  the  plain  from  the  Daibutsu. 

This  is  still  a  fine  building,  though  its  splendor  has 
been  spoiled  by  the  Shinto  reformation,  which,  since 
1868,  has  swept  away  from  many  a  temple  the  bronze 
vases  and  images  and  shining  brass  lotus  flowers,  and 
all  the  rich  paraphernalia  of  Buddhist  worship.  Yori- 
tomo  founded  the  temple  in  the  twelfth  century,  and 
although  the  main  building  is  a  comparatively  modern 
restoration — rebuilt  after  a  fire  in  1828 — the  first 
Shogun's  sword  and  many  other  relics  connect  it  with 
his  time,  when  it  was  the  most  important  shrine  in 
Kamakura.  In  fact,  Yoritomo  may  be  said  to  have 
almost  created  the  worship  of  Hachiman,  which  until 
then  had  been  merely  a  minor  hero-cult,  local  and 
insignificant;  and  in  this  de  Mazeliere  discovers  an- 
other example  of  the  Shogun's  shrewd  statesmanship ; 
for  Hachiman,  in  the  flesh,  was  the  Emperor  Ojin — 
a  very  remarkable  personage,  too,  being  that  son  of 
the  strenuous  Empress  Jingo  in  whose  name  she  con- 
quered Korea  before  ever  he  was  born.  But  his 
significance  for  Yoritomo  lay  in  the  fact  that  he  was 
the  great-grandfather  or  great-great-grandfather  of 
Minamoto,  who  founded  his  clan,  and  not  many 
generations  back  of  Minamoto-no-Yoritomo  himself. 
Such  a  hero-divinity  of  an  ancestor  would  certainly 
be  valuable  to  any  ambitious  ruler ;  at  any  rate,  Yori- 
tomo unquestionably  took  pains  to  promote  Hachiman 


78  JAPAN. 

worship,  and  established  it  with  great  pomp  in  this 
his  new  dominion,  north  of  the  Hakone  Pass,  which 
he  and  his  descendants  took  care  to  appropriate  to  the 
family  in  every  possible  way. 

The  main  building  stands  back  and  somewhat  to 
one  side  of  a  massive  stone-faced  terrace,  to  which  a 
long  flight  of  steps  leads  up.  The  colonnade  in  front, 
as  well  as  the  pillars  and  beams  of  the  temple  itself, 
are  painted  with  the  dull  vermilion  red  which  one 
comes  to  associate  with  all  Buddhist  temples.  The 
carvings  of  birds  and  animals  have  a  good  deal  of 
interest ;  but  the  interior  is  plain,  not  to  say  bare, 
containing  only  the  simple  accessories  of  the  Shinto 
faith,  the  mirror  and  the  Gohei,  or  folded  strips  of 
paper.  In  the  porch  they  usually  keep  the  portable 
shrines  used  for  carrying  images  at  festival  times ; 
the  relics  are  not  often  shown  except  at  these  festi- 
vals. Oldest  and  most  perishable  of  all  these  sacred 
memorials  must  be  that  court  robe  of  the  Empress 
Jingo,  mother  of  Ojin-Hachiman,  which  Pierre 
Loti  saw  by  special  favor.  In  his  marvelous  lan- 
guage he  describes  the  visit,  and  the  opening  of  the 
great  chest,  the  unwrapping,  fold  after  fold,  till  at 
last  within  all  lay  a  shining  filmy  thing,  light  as  gos- 
samer, so  delicate  that  it  seemed  ready  at  any  moment 
to  shiver  into  a  cloud  of  dust.  There  is  something 
striking,  almost  pathetic,  in  the  preservation  of  such 
a  garment  for  such  a  woman — if  hers,  indeed,  it  was 
— a  sort   of  reassertion   of  her  womanhood,  through 


KAMAKURA— A   FORSAKEN   CITY.  79 

all  the  stirring  legends  of  her  life,  which  from  all 
accounts  must  have  been  spent  chiefly  in  the  saddle. 
Her  grandson,  the  Emperor  Nintoku,  son  of  Ojin, 
has  a  little  temple  below  the  steps  leading  to  his 
father's,  and  a  second  small  building  contains  an  un- 
important wooden  statue  of  Yoritomo. 

A  long  avenue  of  pines,  now  much  destroyed,  leads 
straight  up  to  the  temple  from  the  sea.  Three  high 
stone  torii  stand  across  the  avenue — those  strange 
Shinto  pylons,  whose  type-form  is  two  posts  and  a 
cross-beam,  projecting  at  the  ends,  and  whose  origin 
goes  back  out  of  sight  in  the  dim  "Age  of  the  Gods." 
Something  in  their  loneliness,  as  they  stand  apart, 
makes  these  particular  torii  especially  impressive. 
The  temple  beyond  is  almost  hidden  in  the  trees,  and 
there  are  no  other  buildings  n-ar.  Seen  so,  the  fine 
proportions  and  purity  of  line — the  slight  inward 
slant  of  the  posts,  the  curving  ends  of  the  cross- 
beams turning  a  little  up— give  them  a  certain  severe 
beauty  most  characteristic  of  pure  "  Yamato "  taste, 
which  has  strangely  little  in  common  with  the  gor- 
geous Indo-Chinese  influences  of  Buddhistic  art.  To 
the  simple  cross-beam  is  added  here,  and  often  else- 
where, a  second  cross-tie-beam,  and  a  supporting 
block  between  the  two.  It  is  probably  a  concession 
to  the  necessities  of  stone  construction,  the  original 
form  being  wood.  Tradition  says  they  were  perches 
for  the  fowls  (tori),  brought  for  sacrifice  to  early 
Shinto  temples ;  or  that  the  Golden  Crow,  the  mystic 


80  JAPAN. 

Hobo  Bird,  rests  thereon  in  his  flight  toward  the  sun. 
One  version  is  about  as  authentic  as  the  other,  and 
about  as  probable ;  for  what  this  form  does  suggest 
inevitably  is  a  Dolmen,  the  stone  uprights  and  lintel 
translated  into  wood,  and  then,  as  here,  back  again  into 
stone.  When  the  archaeologists  explain  Stonehenge, 
perhaps  they  will  throw  some  light  on  these  strange 
torii. 

Modern  education  in  Japan  has  borrowed  from  Ger- 
many the  good  custom  of  sending  schoolboy  excursions 
to  study  history  on  the  spot,  and  the  youngsters  sleep 
in  camp  on  the  shore,  and  tramp  Kamakura  over,  re- 
hearsing how  soon  Yoritomo's  direct  line  went  out  in 
blood,  his  grandson  and  last  descendant,  the  Shogun 
Sanetomo,  being  murdered  while  worshiping  at  the 
Hachiman  temple  by  a  nephew  whose  father  Sanetomo 
had  killed,  and  who  wras  killed  in  turn ;  how  the  Hojo 
Regents  usurped  the  Shogun's  power  and  ruled  for 
them  as  they  for  the  Emperor,  and  how  the  Ashikaga 
branch  of  Minamoto  helped  the  ever-unlucky  Empe- 
ror Go-Daigo  to  overthrow  the  Hojo,  and  then  took 
unlawful  power  in  their  turn.  They  hear,  too,  of 
Masako,  Yoritomo's  clever  wife,  who  became  a  nun 
after  his  death,  and  from  the  convenient  retirement  of 
the  cloister  directed  affairs  of  state.  They  go  to  see 
the  cave  where  an  imperial  prince,  Go-Haigo's  son, 
Morinaga,  was  confined,  and  at  last  put  to  death  by 
Ashikaga ;  and  they  are  reminded  that  the  period  of 
these  disloyal  Shoguns  was  filled  with  treachery  and 


KAMAKURA-A    FORSAKEN   CITY.  81 

strife,  so  that  in  spite  of  their  power  and  magnificence 
the  memory  of  the  Ashikaga  family  is  held  in  abhor- 
ence.  And  they  climb  the  western  headland  where 
Go-Daigo's  faithful  general,  Nitta,  stood  and  cried  to 
the  God  of  the  Sea,  for  the  Hojo  had  a  guard  of  ships 
across  the  bay,  and  a  chevaux  defrise  at  the  foot  of  the 
clitf,  and  all  the  hills  were  full  of  armed  men.  And 
when  he  had  prayed,  he  flung  into  the  sea  his  most 
precious  thing,  his  sword,  "  the  soul  of  the  Samurai," 
and  Kompira  accepted  the  sacrifice  and  rolled  back 
the  water,  and  the  army  passed  round  the  turn  of  the 
cliff  and  took  and  sacked  the  city.  But  the  Ashikaga 
rebuilt  it  more  magnificently  than  before,  and  its  de- 
cline came  only  gradually  with  the  disturbances  of  the 
fifteenth  century  and  the  removal  of  the  Shogun's 
court  to  the  neighbor  city,  Odawara.  Finally,  when 
Tokugawa  Ieyasu  chose  Yedo  for  his  capital,  Kama- 
kura  was  completely  deserted  for  two  hundred  years, 
till  the  Yokohama  residents  rediscovered  it  for  their 
own  use. 

The  place  is  really  getting  quite  crowded  now. 
Besides  the  hotels,  many  Japanese,  as  well  as  Ameri- 
cans and  Europeans,  have  cottages  near  the  sea  or  up 
the  hillsides.  The  bathing  is  quite  good,  though  the 
water  is  hardly  cold  enough  to  be  particularly  bracing, 
and  the  beach  is  soft  and  shifts  treacherously  after 
storms.  The  country  people  say  that  at  a  certain  sea- 
son— just  after  the  Feast  of  the  Dead,  according  to 
the  old  calendar — the  Sea-God  claims  a  yearly  victim, 
Vol.  I.— 6 


82  JAPAN. 

and  as  the  fatal  time  is  in  August,  when  wind  and 
currents  are  most  uncertain,  it  too  often  happens  that 
some  careless  swimmer  fulfills  the  tradition. 

Summer  at  Kamakura  is  undeniably  hot,  and  its 
devotees  are  forced  to  claim  that  they  prefer  it  that 
way.  Winter  and  early  spring  are  especially  de- 
lightful here  ;  the  air  is  warmer  and  softer  than  in 
Tokyo,  and  the  blossoms  come  early.  By  the  end  of 
March  the  scent  of  purple  bean-flower  steals  up  from 
the  roadsides,  and  the  frogs  pipe  all  night  long  in  the 
wet  fields  ;  the  hills  and  woods  are  full  of  wild-flowers, 
startlingly  like  those  of  our  Atlantic  coast,  while  up 
the  sunny  cliffs,  where  the  air  is  heavily  sweet  with 
Avild  pittosporum,  you  may  close  your  eyes  and  dream 
of  June  in  Italy. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

ENOSHIMA. 

On  a  sunny  day,  if  you  climb  the  east  cliff  from 
Kamakura  to  a  certain  little  tea-house  perched  far  up 
the  side,  you  will  find  a  glorious  view  of  the  country 
round  about,  and  all  across  the  bay  to  the  far  shore 
of  Sagami,  where  stand  the  Hakone  mountains,  and 
above  them  Fuji  San — seeming,  as  some  one  puts  it, 
"  to  bathe  their  feet  in  the  sea."  Lymg  between 
Kamakura  and  this  far  shore,  just  beyond  the  next 
inlet,  is  a  beautiful  little  wooded  island,  green  to  the 
edge  of  its  steep  cliffs.  It  is  Enoshima — Island  of 
the  Bay — the  sacred  island  of  Benten,  Goddess  of 
Luck. 

Everybody  goes  to  Enoshima  at  least  once,  and 
many  of  the  Yokohama  and  Tokyo  "foreign  resi- 
dents "  have  cottages  there,  and  run  down  for  days  or 
weeks  to  get  the  sea  air  and  escape  the  greater  heat 
of  the  city.  It  is  an  all-day  trip  from  either  Yoko- 
hama or  Kamakura,  but  not  a  hard  one.  In  Japan 
there  is  always  an  inn  to  rest  at,  and  on  Enoshima 
there  are  three  good  ones — shoes  off,  of  course! — 
where  chairs  and  tables  and  knives  and  forks  are  to 
be  had,  also  omelette  and  excellent   fried  or  broiled 

83 


#4  JAPAN. 

fish,  with  the  never-failing  rice.  Moreover,  those 
who  do  not  wish  to  depend  on  such  viands,  or  venture 
on  an  entirely  Japanese  meal,  can  bring  a  lunch  from 
their  own  hotel  and  have  it  nicely  served  at  the  inn. 
The  jinrikisha  men  Avill  carry  it,  after  you  leave  the 
kurumas  to  cross  to  the  island.  Most  of  these  men 
speak  half  a  dozen  words  of  English,  and  they  will 
act  as  guides,  carry  your  purchases,  and  make  them- 
selves generally  useful,  quite  earning  the  twenty  or 
thirty  sen  apiece  which  they  are  sure  to  ask  for  their 
own  meal. 

In  fine  weather  it  is  possible  to  take  a  boat  and  row 
or  sail  from  Kamakura  directly  over  to  the  caves ;  but 
the  usual  way  is  by  kuruma  over  the  western  cliff  and 
along  the  beach  road,  about  four  miles  each  way.  The 
road  crosses  the  cliff  by  a  deep  cutting,  between  walls 
of  rock  that  rise  high  above  one's  head,  green  with 
moss  and  ferns,  and  almost  arched  over  by  splendid 
maple  trees,  making  a  gray-and-green  frame  to  the 
view  backward  over  Kamakura  and  the  sea.  A 
group  of  weather-worn  tombstones  stands  beside  the 
road,  some  fallen,  some  leaning  this  way  and  that; 
and  near  by  is  a  row  of  stone  images  of  Jizo,  friend 
of  travelers  and  protector  of  little  children.  For  the 
sake  of  these  little  ones  mothers  make  funny  red  bibs, 
such  as  babies  wear,  and  tie  them  under  Jizo's  chubby 
chin,  where  they  hang  till  rain  and  wind  have  beaten 
them  to  faded  rags. 

In  spite  of  the  deep  cut,  it  is  a  long  climb  to  the 


EXOSHIMA.  85 

top  of  the  cliff  and  the  slope  down  to  the  next  beach. 
This,  too,  is  a  crescent  curve,  backed  by  high  dunes 
and  ending  in  a  strip  of  sand,  which  at  low  tide 
connects  Benten's  island  with  the  shore;  and  just 
over  the  sand,  between  the  dark  island  and  a  darker 
headland,  if  the  mists  permit,  Fuji  San  sweeps  up 
into  the  sky,  dazzling  white  or  faint  as  the  clouds 
about  its  base,  and  flanked  by  the  blue  Hakone 
ranges,  sloping  oif  on  either  side.  At  the  far  end  of 
the  beach  there  is  another  tiny  village  of  thatched 
huts,  where  the  men  leave  their  kurumas ;  for  beyond 
this  there  is  only  deep  sand  or  rocky  footpaths.  The 
rickety  wooden  bridge  which  crosses  over  to  the  island 
is  usually  washed  away  by  storms  two  or  three  times 
a  season ;  and  when  this  has  happened,  you  are  poled 
over  in  a  sampan,  or  trudge  across  when  the  tide  is 
out,  ankle  deep  in  the  shifting  yellow  sand. 

At  the  end  of  the  neck,  below  the  first  slope  of  the 
hill,  a  high  bronze  torii  marks  the  entrance  to  the 
sacred  island.  It  is  the  third  and  last  of  three,  the 
other  two  being  on  the  road  which  comes  directly  in 
from  the  Tokaido,  around  the  turn  from  the  little 
village  we  have  just  left.  About  the  base  of  this  torii 
climb  tortoises,  wrought  in  relief — tortoises  toiling  up 
steep  rocks  from  the  dash  of  curling  bronze  waves. 
They  are  the  companions  of  Benten  Sama,  whose  home 
is  in  the  depths  of  the  sea,  whose  servants  are  dragons 
and  sea-serpents,  and  whose  worshipers  may  not  harm 
a  snake  of  any  kind.     (Luckily  there  are  no  venom- 


ZQ  JAPAN. 

ous  ones  in  Japan.)  In  golden  images  and  pictures 
Benten  appears  as  a  serene  young  matron,  seated  on  a 
rock  splashed  by  the  waves ;  at  her  feet  a  dragon 
bears  in  his  claws  the  crystal  ball  which  brings  in  the 
tide,  while  she  holds  the  other  "  tide  jewel "  which 
makes  the  waters  recede.  She  is  the  friend  of  sea- 
men, the  protectress  of  young  mothers,  the  bringer 
of  love  and  luck  and  beauty;  and  her  sons  are 
Daikoku,  personification  of  wealth,  a  fat  and  merry 
godling,  with  an  immense  rice-bag  on  his  back  j  Ebisu, 
who  carries  a  fish  on  a  line ;  Hotei,  grotesque  and 
grinning ;  Bishamon,  who  gives  success  in  war ; 
Jurojin,  good  luck;  and  Fukurokuji,  happy  old  age, 
whose  long  head  is  made  still  longer  by  an  enormously 
high  cap. 

This  is  the  legend  of  Benten's  coming  to  Enoshima : 
Long,  long  ago  there  was  no  island  here  at  all,  but 
the  river  Kashigoye  flowed  into  the  sea,  as  it  does 
now,  just  behind  the  point  of  land  which  ends  the 
beach,  and  about  the  river  lay  a  great  marsh,  where 
lived  five  terrible  dragons,  who  came  forth  and  de- 
voured the  fairest  maidens  of  the  neighboring  villages. 
And  the  people  groaned  and  prayed  in  vain.  But 
one  night  there  arose  an  awful  storm,  as  if  all  the 
demons  of  sea  and  air  had  broken  loose,  and  the 
people  lay  shivering  with  terror ;  but  in  the  morning, 
when  they  looked  forth,  the  wind  was  still  and  before 
them  lay  a  beautiful  island,  new-risen  from  the  sea, 
and  on  the  highest  point  sat  Benten  herself,  throned 


ENOSHIMA.  87 

on  a  rainbow  cloud.  Moreover,  the  dragons  departed, 
never  to  return ;  and  the  villagers  drained  the  swamp 
and  made  it  into  fertile  fields,  even  as  it  is  this  day. 

The  folk  of  Enoshima  seem  in  no  way  oppressed 
by  any  burden  of  sanctity  resting  upon  their  island ; 
all  the  year  round  seems  a  perpetual  holiday,  a 
ceaseless  thronging  of  pilgrims  and  sight-seers  coming 
and  going  across  the  sand  and  under  the  great  torii. 
Enoshima  village  clusters  against  the  cliff  and  climbs 
it  by  a  single  street,  which  is  hardly  more  than  a 
long  flight  of  mossy  steps  cut  in  the  rock,  and  lined 
with  shops  and  booths  for  the  sale  of  all  manner  of 
sea  curiosities — anything  that  can  be  found  or  made 
to  take  home  as  a  memento  of  the  pilgrimage.  Here 
are  shells  and  beads,  and  the  strange  and  beautiful 
glass  sponges  found  below  Benten's  cave,  and  bits  of 
coral  or  odd  stones ;  there  are  flower  hairpins  such  as 
little  girls  delight  to  wear,  made  of  delicate,  tinted 
shells;  netsukc,  carved  weights  for  the  pipe-case  or 
other  articles  carried  in  the  belt ;  paper-weights ; 
slate  ink-stones  for  mixing  the  india-ink,  with  bits  of 
shell  or  coral  bedded  in  the  lid ;  agate  teacups,  boxes 
and  trays  innumerable ;  some  things  fragile,  some 
useful,  all  having  some  suggestion  of  the  sea,  and  all 
wonderfully  dainty  and  alluring.  The  shops  are 
served  by  coaxing  obasans  (grandmammas)  and  round- 
faced  girls,  the  country  type,  seldom  pretty,  but  always 
smiling  and  good-humored.  Flags  and  blue  and 
white   hangings   flutter   in    the  wind;  wooden  clogs 


88  JAPAN. 

clatter  up  and  down,  to  a  rippling  accompaniment  of 
voices,  till  you  get  past  the  shops  and  climb  on,  by 
more  irregular  mossy  steps,  through  deep,  cool  shade, 
catching  between  the  branches  exquisite  glimpses  of 
the  mountains  and  the  clear  sea  far  below.  Near  the 
top  there  is  a  graceful  little  temple,  with  curving, 
tiled  roof,  Shinto  now  in  faith,  but  decidedly  Bud- 
dhistic in  architecture.  There  are  three  temples  in 
all,  the  highest  standing  where  Benten  first  appeared 
upon  her  island.  They  seem  deserted  now,  the  pil- 
grims visiting  most  the  sacred  caves  below  the  cliff. 
Skirting  around  the  side  of  the  island,  you  come  out 
upon  a  high  point  directly  over  these  caves,  com- 
manding a  wTonderful  view  of  the  coast  far  and  near. 
Little  rest-houses  are  placed  here  and  there,  mere 
platforms,  each  spread  with  a  piece  of  clean  matting 
and  roofed  with  rough  mats  or  thatch ;  and  there  you 
sit  and  enjoy  the  view,  while  a  smiling  old  woman 
brings  tea  and  dry  little  rice-flour  cakes,  shaped  like 
scollop  shells,  and  the  inevitable  box  of  coals  to  light 
your  pipe.  Everybody  smokes  in  Japan ;  there  are 
cigars  and  cigarettes  for  the  progressive,  and  tiny 
pipes  for  the  conservative — pipes  having  a  stem  as 
thick  as  a  pencil  and  a  bowl  nearly  as  big  as  a  child's 
thimble.  Three  puffs  is  the  rule,  and  then  knock  out 
the  ball ;  but  it  is  usually  refilled  again  very  soon. 

At  the  foot  of  the  cliff  is  the  sacred  cave,  which  is 
neither  very  large  nor  in  any  wTay  remarkable,  unless 
one  could  trace  the  supposed  likeness  to  a  dragon ;  a 


ENOSHIMA.  gy 

pretty  path  leads  to  it,  plunging  steeply  down,  ending 
in  some  rickety  bridges  across  the  rocks  just  above  the 
tide-line.  The  cave  is  rather  wide  at  the  mouth,  but 
narrow  and  low  as  it  runs  back  far  into  the  hill ; 
more  shaky  planks,  fastened  to  the  ledge,  pass  into  it, 
and  a  few  guttering  candles  show  little  shrines  set 
against  the  rock,  a  dim  lamp  burning  before  each. 
There  is  no  suggestion  of  danger,  still  less  any  sense 
of  awe  or  mystery;  for  one  thing,  there  are  quite  too 
many  people  about,  pilgrims  and  holiday-makers,  and 
boys  anxious  to  dive  for  pennies  in  the  transparent 
sea  outside.  In  storms,  though,  the  dashing  surf 
about  these  rocks  must  be  very  grand ;  at  such  times 
it  is  not  possible  to  enter  the  caves. 

In  the  thirteenth  century  Enoshima  was  almost  the 
scene  of  a  martyrdom,  but  claims  a  miracle  instead. 
Nichiren,  the  great  Buddhist  saint  and  reformer,  had 
been  going  about  preaching  in  court  and  camp,  de- 
nouncing crime  and  vice  in  high  places,  which  so 
angered  the  Regent,  Hojo  Tokimune,  that  he  first 
exiled  the  priest  and  then  condemned  him  to  death. 
They  took  him  out  to  die  on  the  rocks  at  Enoshima, 
but  twice  the  sword  turned  aside,  and  the  third  time 
broke  in  pieces.  The  frightened  guard  sent  a  mes- 
senger post  haste  to  the  Regent's  palace  at  Kama- 
kura  to  tell  the  miracle.  Meanwhile  a  thunder-clap 
— a  phenomenon  less  ordinary  than  an  earthquake  in 
Japan — coming  from  a  clear  sky,  so  terrified  Hojo 
Tokimasa  that  he,  too,  hurried  off  a  messenger  to  stay 


90  JAPAN. 

the  execution.  The  two  envoys  met  at  a  tiny  river 
which  flows  into  the  sea  half-way  between  Kamakura 
and  Enoshima,  and  thenceforth  this  stream  has  been 
called  the  River  of  Meeting.  Nichiren  was  released ; 
the  Regent  came  and  made  prayer  to  Ben  ten,  and 
after  waiting  three  weeks  beheld  her  in  a  vision  and 
received  forgiveness. 

Since  the  Restoration,  Benten  Sama  has  been  ousted 
in  favor  of  three  Shinto  goddesses ;  but  it  may  well 
be  doubted  whether  the  common  people  are  aware  of 
any  distinct  difference.  It  is  likely  they  feel  about  it 
much  as  so  many  Italian  peasants  would  if  the  church 
of  Saint  Catherine  were  to  be  rededicated,  say  to  Saint 
Elizabeth  and  Saint  Anne.  They  believe  the  divini- 
ties of  the  island  bring  luck,  and  they  know,  in  a  dim 
sort  of  way,  that  he  who  prays  must  not  do  wrong ; 
for  did  not  the  goddess  warn  that  same  Hojo,  the 
Regent,  that  if  he  and  his  descendants  were  unjust 
and  wicked,  his  line  would  end  in  seven  generations, 
and  did  not  all  this  come  to  pass  ?  Such  things  they 
believe ;  but  in  truth  they  are  a  simple  folk,  and  for 
the  most  part  trouble  their  heads  with  very  little 
thinking  at  all. 

And  so  up  over  the  hill  again  to  the  Ebisu-ya  or 
the  Kin-ki-ro,  to  lunch  and  rest  on  the  cool  mats, 
while  the  sea  wind  sweeps  through  the  open  screens, 
till  it  is  time  to  return  by  beach  and  cliff  to  Kama- 
kura again. 


CHAPTER  VIIL 

A   JAPANESE   INN. 

The  whole  coast  southward  from  Yokohama  is  full 
of  coves  and  picturesque  nooks,  delightful  to  visit ; 
but  there  is  no  full-fledged  "  foreign "  hotel  on  the 
sea,  except  the  one  at  Kamakura.  There  are  plenty 
of  good  Japanese  inns,  though,  some  of  them  the  very 
ones  in  which  the  Daimyo  used  to  lodge,  with  their 
trains,  on  their  periodic  journeys  to  and  from  Yedo ; 
but  it  is  best  to  beware  of  places  much  frequented  by 
foreigners,  for  where  the  globe-trotter  goes  to  play 
with  what  he  calls  "  the  Mousmees  "  one  will  not  find 
anything  either  respectable  or  typically  Japanese. 
Broiled  fish  (shio  yaki)  and  eggs  are  to  be  had  at  all 
good  inns  in  Japan,  and  with  these  and  rice  one  will 
not  starve  for  a  few  days  ;  still,  such  a  limited  diet  is 
distinctly  unwholesome,  and  is  sure  to  become  most 
unappetizing  in  a  short  time,  even  if  it  does  not  thor- 
oughly upset  the  digestion.  Along  the  railroad  lines 
there  is  usually  bread  to  be  had,  and  condensed  milk 
and  vile  coifee,  also  "biru,"  i.  e.,  beer;  butter  gener- 
ally gosarimasen,  honorably  is  not,  or  of  a  quality 
uneatable.     Generally   speaking,  therefore,  it  is  not 

91 


92  JAPAN. 

well  to  go  off  the  beaten  track  at  first  without  a 
guide  who  will  lay  in  a  small  stock  of  provisions,  and 
is  not  above  cooking,  or  at  least  superintending  the 
operation.  Chickens  are  nearly  always  to  be  had, 
and  beef  frequently ;  but  to  get  them  properly  pre- 
pared is  quite  another  thing. 

The  charges  at  these  inns  are  very  moderate,  and  it 
is  an  understood  thing  that  every  guest  will  add  a 
gratuity,  called  chadai  (literally,  tea-money),  as  a 
present  to  the  house  and  the  servants.  The  amount 
is  theoretically  in  proportion  to  the  rank  of  the  guest 
and  the  kind  of  accommodation  he  has  received,  and 
of  course  a  Japanese  knows  without  difficulty  what 
his  position  requires  him  to  give.  A  third  more  than 
the  bill  is  a  fair  sum  for  a  foreigner  to  bestow,  when 
he  has  been  charged  the  usual  rate  of  seventy-five  sen 
to  a  yen  per  day ;  of  course,  if  he  has  been  charged 
two  or  three  yen  a  day,  he  is  not  expected  to  pay 
chadai  at  all,  and  should  only  give  a  small  fee  to  the 
servants  who  have  waited  on  him,  as  here  or  in 
Europe.  If  you  think  you  are  not  being  treated  as 
well  as  you  deserve,  a  rather  liberal  chadai  may  be 
given  soon  after  your  arrival,  instead  of  on  departing, 
as  a  sort  of  indication  of  your  expectations ;  it  is  sure 
to  be  responded  to  promptly.  Such  donations  are 
always  folded  in  a  piece  of  paper  marked  with  the 
character  for  "gift;"  it  is  one  of  those  little  courtesies 
a  Japanese  never  neglects.  When  you  depart,  mine 
host  makes  little  return  gifts  as  remembrances,  usually 


A  JAPANESE  INN.  93 

fans  or  printed  towels  or  tiny  teacups,  always  exceed- 
ingly dainty  and  tasteful. 

Accommodations  of  a  Western  sort  vary  with   the 
number  of  foreigners  who  frequent  the  place  in  ques- 
tion ;  at  many  inns  now  they  have  a  table  and  a  few 
chairs,  which  they  will  bring  out,  and  knives,  forks 
and  plates.     At  night  they  will  always  pile  quilts  on 
top   of  each  other  till    they  make  quite  a  soft  bed, 
though  bedstead  there  is  none.     (I    can't   remember 
who   it  was   that   said   his  heaped-up  couch   always 
made  him  think  of  Hector's  funeral  pile.)     There  is 
only  one  under  sheet,  tacked  fast  (see  that  it  is  a  clean 
one),  no  upper  sheet  and  no  blankets ;  the  cover  is  a 
huge  quilt,  its  top  end  padded  up  into  a  roll  particu- 
larly fat  and  smothering.     The  hard  sausage  pillow 
will   not   be  much  comfort  to  a  foreigner,  and  wise 
people  carry  at  least  an  air-cushion,  if  not  sheets  and 
pillows,  of  their  own  ;  towels  and  soap  everybody  is 
expected  to  bring.     Washing  apparatus  in  the  bed- 
room  there   is  none ;   the  Japanese   think    it  a  very 
untidy  custom  to  wash  there,  and  go  to  bath-rooms  in 
another  part  of  the   house ;   but   they  will   yield  to 
Western  eccentricities  so  far  as  to  give  you  a  basin 
and  jug,  in  a  corner  of  the  balcony  opening  on  your 
room — never  inside,  on  the   spotless   mats.     Indeed, 
the  Japanese  are  inclined  to  have  a  poor  opinion  of 
Western  notions  of  cleanliness.     Mr.  Stafford   Ran- 
some   relates  how  he  remonstrated  with   a  landlord 
once   on   the  condition  of  the  "  foreign  "  part  of  his 


94  JAPAN. 

house,  as  compared  to  the  immaculate  Japanese  por- 
tion, and  mine  host  explained  that  it  was  not  worth 
while  to  clean  up  much  for  foreigners ;  they  were  an 
essentially  dirty  race,  and  would  not  know  the  differ- 
ence. Didn't  they  wear  boots  into  the  house?  What 
could  you  expect  of  a  people  like  that  ? 

The  landlord's  argument  suggests  the  notice  which 
used  to  be  posted  in  the  cars  of  a  certain  American 
railroad,  "Gentlemen  will,  and  others  must,  keep 
their  feet  off  the  seats."  The  rhythmic  advice  applies 
precisely  to  Japanese  houses;  the  thick,  soft  mats 
which  cover  the  whole  room  are  chairs,  tables,  all  the 
furnishing  of  the  establishment,  and  should  be  treated 
as  such,  and  not  soiled  with  dust  from  the  street  or 
cut  up  with  sharp  heels.  So,  however  bothersome — 
and  nobody  hates  it  more  than  a  Japanese  in  European 
clothes — "  Gentlemen  will,  and  others  must,"  put  off 
out-door  shoes  at  the  door  of  every  Japanese  house. 
At  some  temples,  though,  and  other  places  often  vis- 
ited by  foreigners  they  keep  huge  canvas  socks  to  pull 
over  your  shoes  instead,  or  the  guide  will  carry  your 
own ;  and  at  most  shops  and  wayside  tea-houses  you 
sit  on  the  edge  of  the  open  room,  instead  of  going 
inside  at  all. 

Still,  in  spite  of  possible  discomforts,  a  stranger  is 
never  quite  in  touch  with  the  country  till  he  has  spent 
a  night  in  a  real  Japanese  yadoya,  eaten  with  chop- 
sticks and  slept  on  the  floor ;  so  try  my  pet  inn,  which 
shall  be  called  the  Sign  of  the  Pine  Tree,  because  that 


A   JAPANESE  INN.  95 

is  not  its  name,  and  which  is  situated  on  the  coast 
somewhere  between  Volcano  Bay  and  the  Inland  Sea. 
Many  Japanese  inns  open  directly  on  the  street,  but 
the  Pine  Tree  stands  back  a  little  in  a  fenced  court, 
entered  by  a  wide  gate  hung  with  metal  lanterns. 
The  entrance  proper  is  a  roofed  space  something  be- 
tween a  porte  cochere  and  a  vestibule ;  the  front  part 
of  it  is  bare  beaten  earth,  the  back  a  raised  platform 
of  polished  boards  level  with  the  floor  of  the  house. 
As  one  approaches  the  rattle  of  wheels  and  the  jinriki- 
sha  men's  shout  of  "  0  hyaku  san  !"  (guests)  brings  a 
row  of  maids  to  the  entrance,  bowing  shiny  black 
heads  to  the  floor,  with  pretty  cries  of  welcome : 
"Irashai!  0  hairi  nasaij"  ("Enter,  honorably 
enter!")  You  seat  yourself  a  moment  on  the  edge 
of  the  platform,  and  one  of  the  porters  hastens  to  un- 
tie your  shoes;  he  is  a  slight  young  fellow  in  the 
traditional  blue  cotton  garments,  with  the  hotel  trade- 
mark stamped  in  white  across  his  back  and  sleeves. 
A  bowing  clerk  calls  the  number  of  the  room  assigned, 
say  33,  and  "  san-jis-san  /"  chant  the  men  and  maids 
in  chorus.  One  takes  the  shoes  and  puts  them  in  one 
of  the  numbered  cupboards  in  the  vestibule;  others 
gather  up  bags  and  wraps  and  lead  the  way  through 
long,  slippery  corridors  and  staircases  steep  and  narrow 
as  ladders  to  the  room. 

A  stranger  may  be  forgiven  if  his  first  instinct  is  to 
stop  at  the  door  and  ask  to  see  a  furnished  apartment. 
There  is  not  even  a  door,  by  the  way ;    only  sliding 


96  JAPAN. 

paper  panels  for  walls,  and  for  window  a  whole  side 
open  to  the  street  or  garden,  or  partly  closed  with 
more  paper  screens  thin  enough  to  let  the  light 
through.  And  in  the  room  itself  is  no  stick  of  furni- 
ture, only  a  thin,  flat  cushion  or  two  perhaps,  and  a 
text  or  picture  in  the  one  raised  niche,  which  looks  as 
if  it  might  do  for  a  seat.  The  maid  hastens  to  bring 
a  hibachi,  literally  a  firepot  or  box  of  burning  char- 
coal, with  a  small  iron  kettle  on  a  tripod  in  the  coals. 
Next  comes  a  round  tray  holding  a  teapot  and  tea  jar 
and  five  small  handleless  cups,  and  kneeling  by  the 
hibachi  she  makes  tea,  and  offers  dry  little  cakes  to 
beguile  the  time  till  dinner  is  ready.  Never  be  in  a 
hurry  at  a  Japanese  hotel,  or  anywhere  in  Japan  for 
that  matter ;  it  is  quite  useless,  and  only  gets  you  a 
reputation  for  bad  manners.  Tadaima,  which  as  Mr. 
Chamberlain  says  "  the  dictionaries  in  their  simplicity 
render  as  '  immediately,'*  "  means  any  time  at  all.  It 
is  better  to  wait  quietly,  and  meanwhile  accept  the 
damsel's  invitation  to  the  bath,  "  honorable  hot  water  " 
as  she  calls  it.  First,  though,  make  sure  that  you 
have  the  first  turn  of  the  tub,  and  remember,  too,  not 
to  enter  it  till  you  are  as  clean  as  soap  and  abundant 
rinsings  will  make  you,  if  you  do  not  want  to  be  set 
down  as  a  "  dirty  Tojin"  by  those  who  follow  you  in 
the  same  tubful  of  hot  water.  The  bath-house,  as 
usual,  is  far  away  in  a  secluded  recess  of  the  garden  — 
such  a  pretty  garden,  too,  all  made  up  of  tiny  courts 
and  alleys  and  goldfish  basins.     Here  is  a  clump  of 


A  JAPANESE  INN.  97 

bamboo  screening  an  outhouse;  there  a  picturesque 
pine  and  a  dash  of  vivid  azalea  blossom  j  a  morning- 
glory  vine  is  climbing  over  a  bit  of  sunny  fence,  and 
a  willowy  nanten  bush  trails  long,  dark  leaves  over  a 
rocky  pool.  The  bath-room  is  separated  from  the 
world  merely  by  sliding  paper  panels,  like  those  all 
over  the  house,  but  at  the  Sign  of  the  Pine  Tree  one 
is  not  troubled,  like  the  immortal  Orthodocia,  by  rude 
fingers  poked  through  the  paper  walls.  On  the  slatted 
floor  you  take  your  scrub,  then  enter  the  scalding 
water  for  a  soak,  which  is  to  be  followed  by  as  many 
pailfuls  of  delicious  well-water  as  you  care  to  splash 
over  yourself.  The  inn  provides  freshly  washed  cotton 
kimonos,  to  take  the  place  of  your  own  dusty  gar- 
ments, and  so  arrayed  you  may  wander  back  through 
the  courts  and  the  polished  corridors  to  your  own 
upper  chamber,  there  to  lounge  delightfully  on  the  soft 
mats  or  groan  over  the  absence  of  chairs,  as  your  mood 
and  your  muscles  dictate. 

The  meal  is  served  to  each  guest  on  a  square  lacquered 
tray,  and  whether  it  be  breakfast,  dinner  or  supper, 
consists  ordinarily  of  fish  or  some  kind  of  omelette, 
twro  soups  in  little  covered  lacquer  bowls,  and  a  small 
dish  of  pickles  ;  an  empty  china  bowl  for  the  rice,  and 
a  pair  of  chop-sticks  (0  haski)  laid  across  it,  completes 
the  set ;  and  the  maid  sits  by  to  serve  the  rice  from  a 
wooden  tub.  One  of  the  soups  is  usually  made  of 
fish,  with  bits  of  green  vegetables  floating  in  it,  the 
other  of  beans  in  some  form ;  shoyu  or  soy  is  served 
Vol.  I.— 7 


98  JAPAN. 

as  a  sauce  with  nearly  everything,  and  many  dishes 
are  cooked  with  it,  giving  a  peculiar  flavor  not  unlike 
Worcestershire  sauce.  Everything  is  daintily  and 
prettily  served,  the  pickles  lending  a  touch  of  color, 
which  is  helped  out  sometimes  by  a  leaf  of  bamboo 
and  a  pile  of  white  horseradish,  grated,  just  as  we 
use  it. 

Certain  inns  make  specialties  of  one  or  another 
delicacy;  thus  Sir  Edwin  Arnold  praises  the  broiled 
eels  of  the  Golden  Carp  in  Tokyo,  and  another  house 
is  famous  for  o  soba,  buckwheat  macaroni,  and  another 
lets  you  choose  your  fish  from  a  pool  and  cooks  it 
while  you  wait.  But  a  list  of  dainties  would  fall 
coldly  on  Western  ears,  even  if  it  included  chawan 
mushi,  steamed  eggs  cooked  with  fish  and  mushrooms, 
and  take-no-ko,  young  shoots  of  spring  bamboo ;  or  raw 
fish,  carp  or  tal,  fresh  from  the  water  and  cut  in  thin, 
pinky  slices,  more  crisp  and  delicate  than  any  Little 
Necks  or  Blue  Points,  and  so  digestible  that  Tokyo 
surgeons  give  it  to  patients  for  the  first  solid  food  after 
an  illness ;  or  bean-curd  (o  tofu)  and  white  beans  deli- 
cately sugared,  and  plump  chestnuts  boiled  with 
mashed  sweet  potato — this  last  dish  should  be  eaten  in 
November,  looking  out  on  a  hillside  of  crimson  maples. 
I  suspect  the  secret  of  learning  to  eat  Japanese  food  is 
never  to  force  down  anything  one  does  not  like ;  just 
taste,  and  taste  again  another  time,  and  so  get  over  the 
strangeness,  which  makes  half  the  difficulty.  It  is 
quite   certain   that   to  be  really  wholesome  for  any 


A  JAPANESE   INN.  99 

length  of  time  all  the  elements  of  the  food  must  be 
eaten  in  proper  proportion,  especially  the  soups  and 
the  shoyu  sauce,  perhaps  even  a  little  of  the  pickles, 
which  are  very  many  and  very,  very  strange. 

Somehow  Japanese  food  never  seems  to  taste  cpiite 
right  unless  it  is  eaten  with  chop-sticks,  or  o  hashi,  to 
use  the  prettier  Japanese  name.  After  all  it  is  easy 
enough  to  manage  them  safely,  if  not  too  gracefully, 
once  one  has  caught  the  trick  of  holding  them  between 
the  thumb  and  fingers — they  are  not  to  be  held  one  in 
each  hand  like  a  knife  and  fork.  The  lower  stick 
should  be  kept  firmly  against  the  third  finger,  while 
the  top  one  is  held  by  the  thumb  and  the  first  and 
second  fingers,  and  plays  on  the  other  like  one  half  of 
an  old-fashioned  pair  of  tongs.  It  is  proper  to  drink 
the  soup  from  the  bowl,  holding  it  with  both  hands,  or, 
taking  it  in  the  left  hand,  to  pick  out  the  pieces  of  fish 
or  vegetables  with  the  o  hashi.  Soup,  broiled  fish, 
eggs  or  whatever  there  is  should  be  eaten  along  with 
the  rice,  not  as  a  separate  course,  as  we  should  take 
soup.  Of  course,  the  rice  is  the  staple  dish,  two  and 
even  three  bowlfuls  being  eaten  at  a  meal ;  it  is  so 
cooked  that  every  grain  lies  distinct,  yet  so  sticky  that 
it  can  be  lifted  in  lumps  without  spilling  a  grain.  It 
is  quite  hard,  though,  and,  by  the  way,  foreigners  often 
find  soft-boiled  rice  a  good  deal  more  wholesome.  At 
the  inns  they  will  always  make  this  o  Icaiyu,  arice  hot 
water,"  as  they  call  it,  if  they  are  told  a  little  before- 
hand. 


100  JAPAN. 

I  have  a  particularly  pleasant  recollection  of  one 
evening  at  the  Pine  Tree,  when  the  little  nesan  closed 
the  shutters  on  the  chilly  winter  twilight,  and  a  friend 
and  I  sat  down  to  what  was  my  first  experience  of 
tori-nabe — "chicken-in-the-pan"  would  be  the  nearest 
English  equivalent — and  this  is  the  way  to  make  it : 
Take  a  chicken  or  other  fowl  or  game  bird ;  cut  the 
meat  from  the  bones  in  small  pieces,  and  lay  it  on  an 
iron  plate;  add  several  small  onions — not  great  self- 
assertive  Bermudas,  but  the  delicate  little  Japanese 
ningij  no  thicker  than  the  end  of  your  little  finger. 
Moisten  with  a  liberal  allowance  of  shoyu  (soy)  and 
set  the  plate  over  the  coals  in  a  hibachi ;  turn  the 
morsels  with  chop-sticks,  and  serve  from  the  plate  as 
fast  as  they  brown. 

Tori-nabe  is  a  great  favorite  with  students,  they 
say,  perhaps  because  it  is  hot  and  savory  and  com- 
paratively cheap — and  Japanese  students  are  always 
hungry,  poor  things !  But  I  fear  it  would  not  do  in 
America ;  there  would  be  something  wanting,  the 
something  that  seasons  corn  roasted  in  the  embers,  or 
trout  broiled  over  a  camp-fire.  It  needs  Ume  in  her 
pretty  Quakerly  dress,  and  the  hibachi  between  us  on 
the  floor,  and  the  night  wind  crying  outside.  No, 
tori-nabe  in  the  chafing-dish  would  not  be  at  all  the 
same  thing. 

At  a  feast  where  sake  (rice  wine)  is  drunk  it  comes 
first  and  along  with  various  fancy  dishes,  the  rice  being 
served  only  at  the  very  end.     Sir  Edwin  Arnold  gives 


A  JAPANESE   INN.  101 

one  of  his  pretty  descriptions  of  the  way  the  sake  is 
served,  hot,  in  a  tall  china  bottle  set  within  a  wooden 
stand:  "  A  tiny,  delicate  sake  cup  for  each  guest,  lying 
in  a  porcelain,  bronze  or  carved  wooden  bowl  of 
water.  .  .  .  Taking  a  cup  in  both  hands,  the  kneeling 
maid  presents  it  to  the  chief  guest,  and  afterwards 
other  cups  to  the  others,  in  like  manner,  filling  the 
cups  to  the  brim,  and  being  careful  not  to  spill  a  drop. 
You  toss  your  first  cup  off,  and,  rinsing  it  in  the  water, 
offer  it  with  both  hands  to  each  friend  in  succession, 
saying,  "  ippui  kudasai."  He  or  she  takes  your  cup, 
lifts  it  to  the  forehead,  holds  it  to  be  filled,  drinks, 
rinses,  and  returns  it ;  after  which  you  must  also  drink. 
The  musmee,  kneeling  before  you,  keeps  her  black  eyes 
wide  open  to  notice  and  fill  up  all  empty  cups,  or  a 
friend  will  perform  that  office  for  you — the  strict  rule 
being  that  you  never  help  yourself  to  the  '  honorable 
sake.'  " 

By  the  way,  asking  Sir  Edwin's  pardon,  only  Treaty 
Port  foreigners  speak  of  the  tea-house  servants  as 
"  musmees,',  which  is  a  corruption  of  mustime  (girl  or 
daughter),  a  word  having  none  of  the  implications 
which  Loti  and  others  have  tacked  on  to  it.  The 
Japanese  say  nesan,  "elder  sister,"  to  these  serving- 
maids,  and  treat  them  as  the  respectable,  hard-working 
girls  that  they  are.  If  these  gentlemen  want  a  toy  to 
amuse  them,  as  is  quite  too  commonly  the  case,  there 
are  geisha  to  be  hired  by  the  hour  to  sing  and  dance 
and   make  witty   remarks  like   the   Columbines  and 


102  JAPAN. 

Punchinellos  of  other  lands — but  this  is  quite  too 
large  a  subject  to  enter  upon.  Instead,  we  will  clap 
our  hands  and  summon  the  little  maid,  who  will  bi  ing 
in  the  futon  for  the  beds,  close  the  wooden  shutters 
of  the  balcony,  put  up,  if  it  is  summer,  a  green  mos- 
quito net  on  a  frame,  light  a  candle  in  a  paper  lantern, 
ami  leave  you  to  slumber — which  you  will  do  more 
readily  if  you  have  brought  a  package  of  insect  pow- 
der, for  Japan  rivals  Germany  or  Italy  in  abundance 
of  fleas.  Getting  rid  of  noise  is  hopeless  in  a  paper 
house,  and  for  this  reason  the  choicest  rooms  of  an  inn 
are  at  the  very  top,  sometimes  in  a  sort  of  tower  lifted 
above  the  merriment  of  drinkers  and  card  players. 
These  up-stairs  rooms,  too,  are  apt  to  have  a  window 
which  can  be  left  open,  as  the  wooden  shutters  at  the 
edge  of  the  balcony  cannot  well  be  for  fear  of  thieves. 
By  day  this  does  not  matter,  for  the  shutters  are  pushed 
back  and  the  whole  side  of  the  room  is  a  great  window, 
open  to  the  light  and  air,  or  closed  by  the  thin  paper 
shojij  which  seem  to  foreigners  so  exceedingly  inade- 
quate— and  are  rather  so,  perhaps,  of  a  frosty  morn- 
ing. The  fact  is  Loti  is  right;  Japan  is  a  tropical 
country  which  has  moved  up  North  by  mistake,  and 
has  never  found  it  out. 

"  Quel  pays  ou  tout  est  bizarre,  ce  Japon  !  Un  hiver 
presque  comme  celui  de  France,  avec  des  gelees,  des 
neiges, — et  les  cycas  poussent  tout  de  meme,  les  bambous 
deviennent  grands  comme  des  arbres ;  d'uu  bout  de 
l'annee  a  l'autre  les  cigales  chantent  .  .  .  et  tout  le 


A  JAPANESE  INN.  103 

mond  grelatte  dans  des  maisons  de  papier.  Vraimcnt 
on  dirait  d'nn  pays  tropical  qui  serait  remonte  vers  le 
nord  sans  s'en  appercevoir;  etourdement,  sans  prendre 
ses  dispositions  d'hiver." — ("  Japoneries  d' Automne.") 
He  caught  certain  externals  with  such  marvelous 
Bareness,  this  Loti ;  strange  that  he  should  have  so 
misread  the  deeper  things,  even  in  that  very  life  of  the 
Treaty  Ports  with  which  he  is  so  gaily  familiar. 
Well,  people  generally  see  what  they  have  come  ex- 
pecting to  find,  and  those  who  are  looking  for  a  toy 
country  of  bowing,  giggling  puppets  may  possibly 
discover  that — and  nothing  more. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

FROM    YOKOHAMA   TO   TOKYO. 

"  The  iron  road  creeps  forward  day  by  day ; 

I  watch  the  falling  pine  trees  through  my  tears. 
Princesses  !     If  you  perish  for  the  Way, 
I  dare  not  bid  you  Live  a  thousand  years !" 

The  thought  of  this  little  poem  is  so  characteristic 
of  Japan  that  I  cannot  resist  quoting  it,  though  it  is 
cruel  to  spoil  with  a  clumsy  attempt  at  translation  Mme. 
Shimoda's  graceful  ida  on  the  princess-pines  (hime- 
matsu)  which  had  to  be  cut  clown  in  building  the  To- 
kaido  railroad.  The  dainty  terseness  of  these  Japanese 
verselets  is  as  untranslatable  as  the  play  upon  words 
on  which  they  turn  :  here  it  is  To,  a  road,  a  way,  which 
may  also  be  read  To  or  Tao,  the  Way  of  Life,  the 
Way  of  the  Gods — and  the  mysterious,  lofty  system 
of  ethics  founded  by  the  Chinese  Lao-Tse.  As  for 
the  sentiment,  a  remark  of  De  Mazeliere's  in  the  His- 
toire  du  Japon  might  have  been  written  as  a  commen- 
tary on  this  very  poem  :  "  No  people  has  shown  such 
disinterestedness  in  sacrificing  what  they  hold  dear  or 
individual  to  the  exigencies  of  a  higher  civilization. 
Leur  ideal  fut  toyjours  un  ideal  de  lutte  et  de  sacrifice." 

The  railroad  from  Yokohama  to  Tokyo  was  the  first 
104 


FROM   YOKOHAMA  TO  TOKYO.  105 

line  built  in  Japan,  unless  we  count  the  little  toy  road 
which  Commodore  Perry  set  up  and  ran  with  toy  en- 
gines, to  astonish  and  amuse  the  people.  The  line  was 
finished  in  1872,  and  all  the  city  turned  out  to  see  the 
first  train,  which  entered  Tokyo  with  flags  flying  and 
arches  of  green  across  the  track,  as  if  it  were  a  national 
festival — as  indeed  it  deserved  to  be.  Englishmen 
built  the  road  and  manned  it  too  at  first,  and  all  its 
habits  and  traditions  are  English  born,  though  Bald- 
win's, in  Philadelphia,  have  since  contributed  certain 
engines  of  hybrid  pattern,  neither  English  nor  alto- 
gether American.  Japan  has  already  begun  to  build 
her  own ;  long  before  now  the  foreign  experts  have 
been  succeeded  by  natives  in  all  departments,  and,  by 
this  modification  and  that,  the  national  mark  has  been 
set  upon  it  all,  as  in  Japan  it  invariably  is — and  ought 
to  be. 

The  distance  from  the  port  to  the  capital  is  eighteen 
miles,  and  takes  fifty  minutes  by  train.  It  is  a  pretty 
ride  through  a  richly  cultivated  country,  with  peeps 
of  Yedo  Bay  on  one  side  and  hills  on  the  other,  and 
behind  these  the  serrated  line  of  the  Hakone  moun- 
tains, with  Fuji  above  them.  The  Tokaido — the  old 
post  road — runs  nearly  parallel  to  the  railroad,  part 
of  its  avenue  of  pines  still  standing ;  low,  thatched 
villages  line  it  here  and  there,  one  house  deep  betwec  n 
the  road  and  the  paddy-fields  ;  the  thick  roofs,  velvety 
brown  or  green  with  moss,  crowd  down  over  the  little 
houses,  as  a  man  pulls  his  hat  over  his  eyes,  till  they 


106  JAPAN. 

are  almost  out  of  sight.  The  ridgepole  often  supports 
a  flourishing  bed  of  lilies,  covering  it  from  end  to  end  j 
the  story  goes  that  in  ancient  times  women  used  so 
much  lily-root  powder  on  their  faces  that  an  edict  was 
made  forbidding  any  one  to  plant  lilies  in  the  ground, 
whereupon  these  daughters  of  Eve  promptly  set  them 
on  the  housetops,  and  there  they  stay. 

Here  and  there  in  the  fields  is  a  little  shrine  in  a 
graceful  clump  of  trees,  a  veritable  sacred  grove. 
Everywhere  the  country  is  full  of  people  at  work, 
whole  families  together,  including  the  usual  baby  on 
somebody's  back ;  they  are  true  peasants,  owning  their 
little  plots,  which  average  two  or  three  acres  to  each 
family.  Occasionally  there  is  a  bullock  or  heifer  to  be 
seen  pulling  a  rude  wooden  plow,  but  most  of  the  work 
is  done  entirely  by  hand,  with  spades  or  a  kind  of 
great  hoe  or  mattock.  Hillsides,  even  though  not 
steep,  are  seldom  cultivated,  unless  they  can  be  terraced 
and  have  a  stream  turned  in,  to  give  water  for  the 
rice.  All  winter  long  the  plain  is  green  with  vegeta- 
bles and  barley ;  in  May  it  is  reaped,  the  dikes  and 
ditches  are  put  in  order,  and  the  ground  is  flooded  and 
enriched  and  left  to  lie  a  little  before  being  dug  again 
for  rice-planting.  The  big  mattocks  come  in  play  here ; 
the  farmers  turn  up  huge  clods  of  mud,  let  them  dry, 
and  then  knock  them  to  pieces  with  a  kind  of  hammer, 
finally  harrowing  all  smooth.  Then  one  small  patch 
out  of  half  an  acre  or  so  is  sown  with  rice,  and  when 
the  stalks  are  about  a  foot  high  they  are  taken  up  by 


FROM  YOKOHAMA  TO  TOKYO.      107 

hand,  root  by  root,  and  set  out  again  in  the  new  fields 
in  rows  a  foot  apart.  This  is  the  re-planting  Japanese 
artists  love  to  paint — men  and  women  in  huge  peaked 
straw  fiats  and  faded  cotton  clothes,  well  turned  up 
over  heavy  leggings,  bending  in  rows  knee-deep  in  the 
flooded  fields.  Others  bind  the  uprooted  stalks  in 
bundles  and  carry  them  on  their  backs  alon<r  the  little 
paths  between  field  and  field,  where  rows  of  beans  line 
the  dike-side  with  their  purple  blossoms.  Here  and 
there  a  ditch  is  planted  with  edible  lotus,  grown  for  its 
long,  tuberous  root ;  the  bluish  leaves  and  great  white 
flowers  show  effectively  against  the  vivid  green  of  the 
rice. 

Then  the  rains  come,  half  June  and  early  July, 
August  and  all  September;  and  always  the  rice  must 
be  Avatehed  and  weeded  and  enriched,  and  the  water 
let  on  or  drained  off  as  the  sun  and  rain  dictate.  Just 
when  the  rains  are  ending  harvest  comes,  and  the  plain 
turns  gold  and  brown,  and  the  dike-sides  are  ablaze 
with  scarlet  lilies  ;  the  reapers  still  work  up  to  their 
knees  in  mud  and  water,  and  hang  the  sheaves  on 
frames  or  tie  them  about  the  trunk  of  a  slender  tree 
to  dry.  That  is  the  time  of  the  festival  of  the  first- 
fruits  ;  the  cotton  crop  is  picked  then,  too,  and  the 
brown  millet  tassels  dried  and  threshed.  They  do  not 
thresh  the  rice;  the  grain  is  combed  from  the  stalks 
and  carefully  winnowed  —  all  of  course  by  hand. 
Finally  it  is  packed  down,  unhulled,  in  bags  holding 
each  a  hoku,  which  is  about  half  a  bushel. 


108  JAPAN. 

This  koku  measure  has  a  peculiar  significance,  be- 
cause in  old  Japan  all  revenues  were  reckoned  in  koku 
of  rice.  This  prince  or  that  was  said  to  be  a  Daimyn 
of  so  many  koku,  according  to  the  average  number  of 
bushels  produced  on  his  estates,  and  his  rank  was 
graded  in  like  manner.  Income  was  reckoned  in  this 
way  until  after  the  Restoration. 

The  revenue  given  by  the  lords  to  their  retainers 
was  also  paid  in  rice,  each  Samurai  receiving  a  certain 
number  of  koku  monthly.  In  Tokugawa  times  this 
rice  was  brought  down  from  the  provinces  and  stored 
in  warehouses  by  the  river,  from  which  it  was  distrib- 
uted at  fixed  periods.  At  first  the  knights  received  it 
in  person,  idling  the  hours  of  waiting  at  the  tea-houses 
near  by ;  then  these  tea-houses  began  to  undertake  to 
collect  and  sell  the  allowance,  and  the  knights  began  to 
think  it  beneath  their  dignity  to  handle  the  rice  them- 
selves. It  was  a  time  of  extravagance  and  reckless 
living,  and  many  a  Samurai  borrowed  on  his  next- 
month's  pay,  and  when  it  came  found  every  koku  mort- 
gaged to  the  rice  dealers.  Such  was  the  state  of  things 
when  Perry's  coming  precipitated  the  Restoration. 

These  country  people  are  like  the  peasant  type  all 
over  the  world,  short  and  thick-set,  with  round,  heavy 
faces,  slow  of  wit  and  yet  shrewd  enough  about  their 
own  business.  Some  say  they  are  partly  descended 
from  the  aboriginal  Ainu,  and  it  may  be  true,  but  gen- 
erations of  toil  may  well  have  dulled  this  man  of  the 
hoe  without  help  from  a  duller  ancestry  than  his  fel- 


FROM   YOKOHAMA   TO  TOKYO.  109 

lows.  Of  course  they  are  true  conservatives,  very 
slow  to  change  auy  of  their  ways,  yet  these  simple  folk 
along  the  Tokaido  are  modern  and  progressive  beside 
the  population  in  the  south  and  in  districts  which  the 
railroads  have  not  reached.  An  excellent  place  to  see 
them  is  at  one  of  the  temple  festivals,  such  as  the 
monthly  matsuri  here  at  Kawasaki,  half-way  to  Tokyo ; 
the  crowd  is  always  good  natured  and  kindly,  full  of 
childlike  curiosity  and  enjoyment,  equally  delighted  by 
a  beautiful  cherry  tree  and  an  American  mechanical 
toy.  In  the  old  times  they  came  afoot,  but  now  they 
throng  the  trains,  the  men  wearing  gorgeous  red  shoddy 
blankets,  in  plaee  of  the  old-fashioned  straw  rain-coat. 
This,  though,  is  still  in  vogue  for  actual  use  in  the 
fields  and  elsewhere ;  the  long  straws  are  woven  in, 
forming  a  sort  of  thatch,  which  keeps  the  workman 
dry  and  warm  even  in  a  heavy  downpour. 

At  these  festivals  the  girls  wear  their  brightest 
sashes  and  prettiest  hairpins,  and  the  children  are  re- 
splendent in  red,  orange  and  purple  flowered  dresses, 
while  Oba  Sans  and  Okami  Sans — grandmammas  and 
matrons — clip  about  on  their  high  clogs,  chattering 
and  laughing  and  displaying  their  black,  shiny  teeth — 
for  this  custom  of  blackening  the  teeth  after  marriage, 
once  universal,  still  lingers  in  the  country  villages. 

At  Kawasaki  the  train  crosses  the  Tamagawa — by 
the  way,  kawa  or  gawa  means  river — which  is  here 
quite  a  considerable  stream.  The  railroad  bridge 
seems  needlessly  high  and  strong,  till  one  remembers 


HO  JAPAN. 

that  Japanese  rivers  have  an  inconvenient  habit  of 
rising  in  the  September  rains  and  breaking  banks  and 
carrying  oif  whatever  they  can.  The  Tamagawa  has 
its  source  among  picturesque  mountains,  some  fifty 
miles  west  of  Tokyo,  and  as  it  leaves  the  foot-hills  a 
great  dam  and  a  canal  turn  aside  part  of  its  waters  for 
the  city's  supply.  The  water  is  pure  and  good  when 
it  leaves  the  river,  but  unfortunately  it  enters  Tokyo 
in  wooden  aqueducts,  and  until  the  new  system  of  iron 
pipes  is  completed  to  take  their  place,  perennial 
typhoid  and  periodic  outbreaks  of  cholera  cannot  be 
avoided. 

Beyond  Kawasaki  the  line  runs  for  some  distance 
on  an  embankment  between  curious  pear  orchards — 
curious  because  each  tree  has  its  branches  spread  out 
flat  on  the  under  side  of  a  bamboo  frame,  so  that  you 
look  down  from  the  train  upon  acres  of  thin  green 
roof.  These  Japanese  pears  are  sadly  disappointing ; 
they  are  not  pear-shaped  at  all,  but  round  and  brown 
like  a  russet  apple,  and,  though  fairly  juicy,  they  have 
almost  no  taste.  Cooked  with  lemon  or  cloves,  it  is 
true,  they  make  a  pretty  good  compote;  but  they  cer- 
tainly give  color  to  the  saying  of  the  Treaty  Ports 
about  scentless  flowers  and  tasteless  fruit.  It  is  a 
clever  little  proverb,  and  contains  just  about  one  grain 
of  truth  to  ninety-nine  of  the  other  thing. 

The  next  station  is  Onion",  where  Dr.  Morse  made 
his  wonderful  find  of  shell-heaps,  like  the  "kitchen 
middens"  of  Denmark   and    elsewhere,   over    which 


FROM    YOKOHAMA   TO  TOKYO.  m 

there  has  been  so  much  controversy.  Are  they  relics 
of  the  Ainu,  who  make  no  pottery  now,  and  have  never 
made  any,  so  far  as  Japanese  history  knows?  Or  do 
they  belong  to  a  still  earlier  race,  the  "  Earth  Spiders" 
of  Japanese  tradition,  who  lived  in  caves  and  holes  in 
the  rocks?  Or,  perhaps,  were  these  makers  of  the  shell- 
heaps  the  Koropok-garu— the  little  blue-eyed  Good 
People  the  Ainu  tell  fairy  stories  about?  Nobody 
knows,  and  nobody  seems  vc  ry  likely  to  find  out ;  but 
then  life  would  be  very  dull  for  the  archaeologists  with- 
out a  puzzle  or  two. 

Omori  is  famous  for  plum  blossoms  ;  the  station  lies 
under  a  hill  which  is  full  of  bloom  from  the  middle 
of  February  till  late  March.  A  path  climbs  through 
the  trees  to  a  charming  tea-house,  standing  back  on  a 
little  lawn  at  the  edge  of  a  pine  grove;  the  wide 
thatched  roof,  curved  up  a  little  at  the  corners,  looks 
like  brown  velvet  against  the  green.  On  the  lawn 
there  are  benches  and  a  table  or  two,  or  you  may  go 
inside,  where  the  open  screens  let  you  look  out  across 
the  tops  of  the  plum  trees  to  the  misty  green  plain, 
spreading  away  to  the  bay,  a  couple  of  miles  off. 
Farther  back  there  are  some  wonderful  old  trees,  and 
another  still  more  ancient  grove  at  Ikegami  Temple, 
a  mile  or  two  back  in  the  hills. 

From  Omori  on  the  fields  are  more  and  more  civen 
over  to  market  gardens.  Naturally  the  Japanese,  not 
being  meat-eaters,  make  up  by  a  large  variety  of  vege- 
table food,  and  there  are  more  green-grocers  in  some 


112  JAPAN. 

streets  than  almost  any  other  provision  dealers.  Far 
the  largest  part  of  the  supply  is  brought  in  on  hand- 
carts from  the  neighboring  country,  or  carried  to  the 
city  in  baskets  slung  over  a  pole.  Green  vegetables 
never  fail  the  year  round,  though  some  sorts  of  course 
belong  only  to  a  single  season,  like  bamboo  shoots  in 
early  spring,  or  a  queer  kind  of  squash  in  the  autumn. 
Then  there  are  all  manner  of  roots,  lotus  and  radish 
and  lily-bulbs,  potatoes  and  onions;  half  a  dozen 
varieties  of  beans ;  egg  plants  and  gourds  and  cucum- 
bers ;  and  ginger  and  herbs  for  seasoning,  besides  the 
tomatoes  and  cabbages  and  other  things  introduced 
since  the  opening  of  the  country.  It  is  hard  to  ima- 
gine where  all  the  green  stuff  comes  from,  till  one 
realizes  what  a  circle  of  little  villages  fringe  the  edge 
of  the  immense  city. 

Now  the  railroad  draws  near  the  bay,  the  houses 
thicken  and  thatch  gives  place  to  tiles.  At  Shinagawa 
the  train  passes  through  a  deep  cut  in  the  hills  into  a 
closely-built  suburb,  full  of  tall  factory  chimneys  and 
smoke,  and  sweeps  round  in  a  long  curve  beside  the 
bay,  past  the  line  of  island  forts — dismantled  now — 
which  rose  so  hastily  in  defiant  answer  to  Perry's  de- 
mands ;  past  the  lovely  garden-palace  where  General 
Grant  and  other  dignitaries  have  lodged,  and  so  into 
crowded,  bustling  Shinbashi  station  in  the  heart  of 
Tokyo. 


CHAPTER  X. 

TOKYO— THE   CASTLE   AND   THE   CITY. 

"  This  big,  dreary  city  of  innumerable  little  houses."-La  Farge 
"  Letters  of  an  Artist." 

Small  blame  to  the  four  weeks'  tourist  if  he  loves 
not  Tokyo.  Its  stock  sights  are  only  half  a  dozen  or 
so— the  Asakusa  and  Shiba  temples,  the  moat,  Uyeno 
Park,  the  tombs  of  the  Forty-seven  Ronin,  a  feast  and 
the  geisha's  "butterfly  dance"  at  the  Maple  Club, 
Danjuro  at  the  big  theatre,  or  the  wrestlers  over  in 
Mukojima— this  last  amusement  distinctly  not  for 
ladies— cherry  blossoms,  iris,  lotus  or  chrysanthemums 
"  in  season,"  as  the  caterers  say  of  game.  These  at- 
tractions are  scattered  over  the  length  and  breadth  of 
a  city  measuring  five  or  six  miles  radius  every  way 
from  Nihonbashi  Bridge,  every  part  of  which,  to  un- 
accustomed eyes,  looks  exactly  like  all  the  rest— low 
roofed,  gray,  interminable. 

The  foreign  resident,  too,  finds  plenty  to  growl 
about— heat  and  cold,  dust  and  rain,  and,  worst  of  all, 
the  weary  jinrikisha  rides  over  those  endless  distances. 
Yet,  granting  all  shortcomings,  the  great  city  exercises 
a  fascination  of  its  own— a  charm  made  up  of  quaint 
Vol.  I.— 8  113 


114  JAPAN. 

lanes  and  mysterious  turnings,  of  tide- water  canals 
busy  with  odd  craft,  of  hills  and  green  hedges  and  tall 
trees  rising  like  islands  out  of  the  gray  sea  of  roofs,  a 
glamor  of  flooding  sunlight  that  is  never  glare,  of 
hazy  twilights  and  the  firefly  dance  of  lanterns  in  the 
dark;  everywhere,  and  most  of  all,  the  picturesque 
come  and  go  of  its  streets,  the  spell  of  its  vivid, 
throbbing  life. 

There  is  a  tale  of  a  traveler  who  rode  over  Tokyo 
for  three  days,  and  then  went  away  in  despair,  saying 
he  could  not  find  any  city ;  he  saw  only  suburbs. 
The  fact  is,  it  is  not  a  city  really,  but  rather  a  bunch 
of  villages  clustering  round  the  moat  and  the  castle, 
which  have  grown  together  and  melted  into  each  other 
till  nobody  can  say  where  one  stops  and  the  other 
begins.  Each  part  has  still  its  oavu  temples,  its  local 
guilds,  local  festivals,  local  industries,  sometimes  even 
special  customs  of  its  own — all,  of  course,  coming 
under  the  general  management  of  the  central  city 
government. 

Perhaps  this  persistent  individuality  is  less  strange 
when  one  stops  to  realize  what  a  comparatively  recent 
place  it  is,  after  all — that  before  Tokugawa  Ieyasu's 
time,  only  a  matter  of  two  or  three  hundred  years 
ago,  there  was  nothing  here  but  a  small  castle  and  an 
insignificant  fishing  village.  Beside  Kyoto's  record 
of  ten  centuries  Tokyo  is  an  upstart,  a  mere  parvenue, 
like  the  Tokugawa  themselves  who  created  it.  Then, 
too,  the  broken  hill-and-dale  quality  of  the  ground 


TOKYO-THE  CASTLE  AND  THE  CITY.       U5 

may  have  helped  to  keep  the  villages  distinct,  as  well 
as  the  innumerable  creeks  and  intersecting  canals 
which  cut  its  lower  portions. 

It  must  be  remembered,  however,  that  though  the 
Tokugawa  made  Yedo  what  it  was,  they  did  not 
actually  discover  the  place  for  themselves;  the  real 
founder  was  one  Ota  Dokwan,  a  vassal  of  the  power- 
ful Uyesugi  family,  whose  provinces  lay  further  to  the 
north.  This  Ota  perceived  the  strategic  possibilities 
of  the  situation,  and  built  a  small  castle  on  the  central 
hill.  Later  this  changed  hands  once  or  twice,  but  was 
never  a  place  of  much  importance  till  it  was  given 
over  to  Tokugawa  Ieyasu  about  a  hundred  years  after. 
Ieyasu  took  possession  in  1590,  and  his  first  care  was 
to  strengthen  Ota's  site  by  digging  the  moats  deeper 
and  raising  the  great  walls ;  his  next  to  level  part  of 
the  neighboring  hills  and  fill  the  swampy  places  round 
about.  Under  his  firm  rule  Yedo  grew  rapidly,  and 
was  a  prosperous  city  even  before  Iemitsu's  "  com- 
pulsory residence "  law  compelled  all  Daimvo  to 
maintain  their  permanent  households  in  his  capital. 

"  Easier  to  take  than  to  defend,"  some  one  wrote 
lately  of  Yedo  Castle.  He  was  thinking  doubtless 
of  modern  warfare;  for,  as  compared  with  the  other 
strongholds  of  its  period — such  as  Osaka  and  Xagoya, 
or  Odawara,  which  was  the  seat  of  the  Hojo  Regents 
— Yedo  was  quite  as  well  fortified,  and  had  far  the 
best  situation  of  them  all.  PJ*d,  not  has;  for  as  a 
castle   it  no  longer   exists.     In    1873  a   fire,  which 


116  JAPAN. 

started  by  accident,  burned  the  great  keep  and  all  the 
more  important  buildings,  and  only  the  walls  and 
gates  remain  around  the  Imperial  palace  which  has 
been  built  on  the  same  site.  Six  times  before  this 
the  castle  was  burned,  the  first  time  being  in  1601. 
Ieyasu  was  then  in  possession,  but  did  not  receive  the 
title  of  Shogun  till  a  couple  of  years  later.  On  that 
occasion,  not  only  the  castle,  but  nearly  the  whole 
town  was  burned,  and,  according  to  tradition,  tiled 
roofs  were  introduced  soon  after ;  but  for  a  long  time 
they  were  only  used  on  the  houses  of  nobles. 
Shingles,  however,  were  substituted  for  thatch  as 
being  a  little  easier  to  keep  from  catching  fire. 

Whether  strong  or  not,  Yedo  Castle  never  experi- 
enced an  actual  siege.  Built  at  the  beginning  of  the 
"  great  peace,"  no  enemy  ever  came  against  it  till 
1869,  when  General  Saigo  led  one  wing  of  the  Im- 
perial army  over  the  Hakone  Pass  to  chastise  the 
rebellious  Tokugawa.  Saigo  encamped  on  the  edge 
of  the  city,  at  Shinagawa,  where  his  master,  the 
Prince  of  Satsuma,  had  a  yashiki,  and  demanded  pos- 
session in  the  Emperor's  name.  Prince  Tokugawa 
was  in  a  very  uncomfortable  position.  He  had 
already  declared  that  he  would  not  disobey  the  Em- 
peror, but  his  retainers  and  allies — among  them  the 
fierce  Aidzu  Samurai — refused  to  accept  his  order  to 
lav  down  their  arms,  declaring  the  Emperor  was  co- 
erced by  the  hated  Satsuma.  The  city  hummed  with 
conspiracy,  spies  were  in  every  household  and  no  one 


TOKYO-THE  CASTLE  AND  THE  CITY.       H7 

knew  whom  he  dared  trust.  The  man  who  saved  the 
situation  was  a  Hatamoto,  or  retainer  of  the  Shogun, 
named  Katsu — one  of  the  most  remarkable  men  Japan 
has  ever  produced.  Educated  by  Dutch  teachers  at 
the  naval  school  in  Nagasaki,  Katsu  had  already  been 
to  San  Francisco  as  captain  of  the  first  Japanese  ship 
which  ever  crossed  the  Pacific — a  gunboat  of  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  tons  and  one  hundred  horse  power. 
On  his  return,  his  pro-foreign  utterances  brought  on 
him  the  wrath  of  the  Bakufu,  and  he  was  degraded 
and  afterward  confined  to  his  own  house;  but  his 
brains  and  courage  were  too  valuable  to  be  spared 
long.  Saigo  was  his  personal  friend,  and  he  had 
many  other  friends,  and  even  followers,  in  the  Satsuma 
Clan,  besides  holding  the  respect  and  confidence  of  his 
own  side. 

So,  one  morning,  Count  Katsu  mounted  his  horse 
and  rode  alone  to  Saigo's  camp  at  Shinagawa,  and  the 
two  talked  together  as  man  to  man.  "  I  believe  my 
old  friend  is  at  his  wits'  end  by  this  time,"  Saigo  is 
reported  to  have  said,  and  "  Only  by  placing  yourself 
in  my  position  can  you  understand  where  I  am/'  re- 
plied Katsu,  whereupon  the  general  "  bursts  into  a 
peal  of  laughter."  A  few  days  later  Katsu  took 
Saigo  up  Atago  Hill,  a  mile  or  two  nearer  the  castle, 
and  together  they  looked  over  the  vast  expanse  of  the 
city  spread  at  their  feet.  "  If  we  cross  swords,  these 
innocent  people  will  have  to  suffer/'  said  Saigo,  and 
he  was  silent  for  a  little.     Shortly  after  he  went  back 


118  JAPAN. 

to  bis  chief,  Prince  Arisugawa,  and  arranged  terms 
of  peace  along  the  lines  Katsu  had  proposed.  The 
city  was  to  be  spared,  and  in  return  the  castle  and  the 
fleet  were  to  be  given  up,  and  the  ex-Shogun  to  retire 
to  Mi  to,  another  head  being  appointed  for  the  Toku- 
gawa  family.  The  castle  was  accordingly  handed 
over,  but  the  fleet — a  handful  of  vessels — was  carried 
off  by  the  officer  in  charge  and  held  for  some  time 
longer ;  and  there  was  fighting  at  Uyeno  Park,  and 
afterward  at  Utsunomiya  and  in  Aidzu,  before  the 
clans  finally  gave  up  the  struggle. 

But  though  Yedo  has  never  been  overrun  by  an 
army,  as  Kyoto  was  so  often,  plenty  of  blood  has  been 
shed  in  the  streets,  and  close  to  the  castle,  too.  On 
the  southwest  side,  where  the  banks  of  the  moat  are 
steepest  and  most  picturesque,  stands  the  Sakurada 
Gate,  and  just  here,  between  the  inner  and  the  outer 
moat,  a  band  of  Ronin  killed  the  Regent  Ii  Lord 
Kamon  in  broad  daylight  in  the  midst  of  his  train. 
The  ostensible  reason  for  this  deed — the  reason  set 
forth  in  the  explanatory  paper  which  the  assassins  car- 
ried with  them — was  that,  by  signing  the  treaties,  the 
Regent  had  disobeyed  the  Emperor  and  betrayed  the 
country  to  the  foreigners ;  but  there  was  more  behind, 
and  the  real  motive  was  well  known  to  be  personal 
hatred  on  the  part  of  the  Mito  Clan. 

This  was  the  cause :  During  the  excitement  and 
alarm  which  followed  Perry's  coming  the  Bakufu  felt 
the  need  of  a  stronger  head  than  the  Shogun,  who 


TOKYO— THE  CASTLE  AND  THE  CITY.       119 

was  ill  and  incapable,  and  they  therefore  chose  Ii 
Kamon,  giving  him  the  title  of  Tairo  or  Regent. 
Ii  was  perhaps  the  most  able  man  in  Japan,  as  he  was 
certainly  the  most  strong-willed  and  daring;.  He  it 
was  who  finally  signed  the  treaties  with  the  foreign 
powers  in  direct  opposition  to  the  Emperor's  com- 
mand— an  act  which  brought  on  him  the  wrath  of  the 
Jo-i,  or  Nationalist  party,  to  which  Prince  Mito  be- 
longed ;  but  worse  still,  he  thwarted  Mito's  plans  for 
the  succession  to  the  Shognnate. 

Now  an  unwritten  law  required  the  Shogun  to  be 
of  the  Tokugawa  branch  of  the  Minamoto  family, 
and  if  the  reigning  member  had  no  heir,  his  successor 
was  chosen  from  the  Go-Sanke,  the  three  houses  de- 
scended from  Ieyasu  himself — namely,  Mito,  Owari 
and  Kii.  This  choice  had  now  to  be  made,  and 
Prince  Mito  wished  to  appoint  a  son  of  his  own,  but 
the  Regent  had  no  desire  for  a  rival,  and  secured  the 
succession  for  a  mere  lad  of  the  house  of  Kii.  Mito, 
baffled,  accused  the  Regent  of  disloyalty  in  the  matter 
of  the  treaties,  and  got  a  commission  from  the  Em- 
peror to  "drive  out  the  barbarians  and  restore  order." 
To  this  Ii  replied  by  sending  an  agent  to  Kyoto, 
arresting  many  of  the  Jo-i  party,  confiscating  the 
estates  of  some  and  putting  others  to  death.  The 
Prince  of  Mito  was  deposed  and  banished  to  his 
own  province,  his  son  succeeding  him  as  head  of  the 
family. 

A  few  months  later,  in  March,  1860,  the  Regent 


120  JAPAN. 

started  from  his  own  castle  to  call  on  the  Shogun, 
riding  in  a  closed  norimon  (litter),  surrounded  by 
about  a  hundred  followers.  It  was  snowing  heavily — 
the  muffling,  slippery  snow  of  the  south — and  the 
knights  were  encumbered  with  rain-coats  to  protect 
their  fine  court  garments ;  and  besides,  during  the 
long  peace,  military  habits  had  relaxed  and  swords 
were  not  always  sharpened,  or  the  knots  of  their  scab- 
bards untied.  Just  as  the  procession  neared  the  gate 
it  was  suddenly  attacked  by  a  handful  of  men — 
eighteen  in  all,  one  man  being  from  Choshu  and  the 
rest  former  retainers  of  Mito,  who  had  become  Ronin. 
Before  they  could  be  prevented,  they  cut  their  way  to 
the  norimon,  struck  down  the  bearers  and  either  killed 
the  Regent  outright  or  wounded  him  so  severely  that 
he  died  shortly  after  being  carried  back  to  his  castle ; 
this  last  being  the  official  version.  Of  the  Ronin,  part 
were  killed  on  the  spot,  the  rest  taken  and  required  to 
kill  themselves.  The  young  Shogun  died  soon  after, 
and  this  time  Prince  Mito's  son  was  appointed  ;  it  was 
he  who  afterward  resigned  the  office  and  returned  the 
power  to  the  Emperor. 

A  year  later  the  presiding  officer  of  the  Bakufu  was 
attacked  in  the  same  manner,  near  one  of  the  moats, 
and  after  this  it  became  more  and  more  the  custom 
for  impatient  patriots  to  become  Ronin  and  proceed  to 
reform  things  in  their  own  way.  Such  a  band  attacked 
the  British  Legation  in  1862  and  killed  two  men  ;  the 
American  Legation  was  burned  the  following  year, 


TOKYO— THE  CASTLE  AND  THE  CITY.       121 

and  the  murder  of  Mr.  Heusken  and  several  other 
outrages  were  of  the  same  order.  The  first  real 
check  was  an  imperial  edict,  published  at  the  request 
of  Sir  Harry  Parkes,  just  after  he  and  his  escort  had 
been  set  upon  in  Kyoto,  while  on  their  way  to  an 
audience  with  the  Emperor.  This  edict  vigorously 
denounced  such  acts,  declaring  them  highly  displeas- 
ing to  his  Majesty,  and  it  was  published  everywhere, 
with  a  great  deal  of  effect. 

In  the  autumn  of  1868  the  young  Emperor  made 
his    first   visit  to  Yedo,  returning  to  Kyoto    in  the 
winter  for  three  purposes :  first,  to  perform   certain 
rites  at  the  tomb  of  his  father,  the  Emperor  Komei, 
who  died  the  year  before ;  second,  to  marry  the  Prin- 
cess Ichijo;  and  third,  "to  make  his  success  known 
at  the  ancestral  tombs."     These  things  accomplished, 
he  came  back  to  Yedo  in  the  spring  and  settled  there' 
changing  the  city's  name  from   "Gate  of  the  Bay" 
(Yedo)  to  Tokyo  or  Tokei,  Eastern  Gate ;  while  at 
the  same  time  Kyoto  became  Saikyo,  Western  Gate  or 
Capital.     The  city  now  returned  to  its  former  flour- 
ishing state,  which  it  had  lost  when  the  compulsory 
residence  Jaw   had  been   relaxed   and   the   Daimyos' 
families  departed  to  the  country.     All  who  desired 
promotion  or  the  new  learning  now  flocked  into  it, 
and  Tokyo  to-day  claims  a  population  of  considerably 
over  a  million— including  the  suburbs  it  is  close  on 
two  million  people— and  is  always  growing. 

It  all  radiates    round   the  hill  of  Ieyasu's  castle, 


122  JAPAN. 

where  the  palace  now  stands,  with  its  "  inner  circle  " 
of  the  moat,  and  its  "  outer  circle,"  and  the  irregular 
ring  of  yashiki,  fortified  residences  of  the  Daimyo, 
now  mostly  destroyed  or  altered,  which  stood  on  the 
hills  about  the  castle.  North  and  west  lie  other  hills, 
south  and  east  a  wide  level,  cut  by  a  network  of  tide- 
water canals  and  crossed  by  the  Sumida  River,  sweep- 
ing in  a  great  curve  to  the  bay.  Here  among  the 
canals  throngs  the  city's  trade ;  and  here,  just  below, 
at  the  mouth  of  the  river,  where  the  forest  of  masts 
is  thickest,  lies  the  Foreign  Concession,  Tsukiji,  till 
1898  the  only  place  outside  the  Open  Ports  where 
aliens  might  reside  without  being  at  least  nominally 
in  Japanese  employ.  Of  course,  this  restriction  did 
not  apply  to  the  Legations  ;  they  are  over  on  the  hills 
near  the  palace  and  the  residences  of  Cabinet  Minis- 
ters and  other  dignitaries.  The  American  Legation 
was  in  Tsukiji  at  first,  but  moved  away  years  ago, 
and  its  solid  stone  building,  with  Uncle  Sam's  eagles 
by  the  doorstep,  is  now  part  of  the  Hotel  Metropole. 
Tsukiji,  by  the  way,  means  drawn  out,  because  this 
and  a  great  deal  more  of  the  level  region  was  drained 
and  reclaimed  from  the  bay,  as  more  probably  wTill  be 
some  day. 

Some  day,  too — and  everybody  hopes  it  may  come 
before  long — the  main  lines  of  railroad  will  run  into 
a  central  station,  instead  of  stopping  miles  apart,  the 
one  away  over  at  Uyeno,  in  the  northeast,  and  the 
other  at  Shinbashi,  close  to  the  bay.     A  horse-car  line 


TOKYO— THE  CASTLE  AND  THE  CITY.       123 

now  connects  the  two  stations,  taking  rather  over  an 
hour  to  do  the  live  miles.  The  cars  are  always  very 
crowded  and  very  jolty,  but  fairly  clean  and  exces- 
sively amusing  to  ride  on.  It  used  to  be  considered 
desperately  plebeian,  but  jinrikisha  fares  have  gone  up 
so  since  the  war  that  more  and  more  well-dressed 
people  take  "  basha  "  rides  now,  and  everybody  sighs 
for  the  time  when  the  horse-car  company's  franchise 
will  run  out  and  electric  lines  be  laid  throughout  the 
city. 

The  first  part  of  the  street  through  which  the  cars 
run  from  Shinbashi  is  the  "  Ginza,"  a  block  of 
hideous  brick  buildings  in  foreign  style,  which  are 
used  for  shops,  and  which  were  put  up  by  govern- 
ment order,  for  the  really  very  good  reason  that 
statistics  showed  that  all  the  worst  fires  swept  directly 
across  here.  It  was  something  in  the  direction  of  the 
winds,  no  doubt,  and  the  absence  of  wide  canals, 
always  a  great  protection  to  this  city  of  wood  and 
paper ;  and  they  say  the  brick  walls  actually  have 
proved  quite  successful  in  checking  serious  conflagra- 
tions in  this  ward. 

But  alas,  that  when  Western  civilization  first 
reached  Japan,  the  most  rampantly  atrocious  archi- 
tecture was  at  its  height  !  It  seems  as  if  the  evil 
touch  could  never  be  done  away.  Scarcely  anywhere, 
unless  in  a  prosperous  modern  German  town,  could 
one  discover  such  horrors  of  building  as  here  in 
Tokyo.     The  Japanese  are  quite  aware  that  they  are 


124  JAPAN. 

hideous,  but  so  they  think  is  everything  foreign. 
What  would  you  have?  Modern  conditions  of  life 
require  modern  offices  and  banks  and  school-rooms 
and  such  things ;  so  up  they  go,  and  well  if  they  do 
not  come  rattling  down  again  at  the  next  sharp  earth- 
quake. Nearly  all  the  chimneys  in  Tokyo  did  in  the 
shock  of  1894,  and  since  then  almost  all  the  chimneys 
in  the  city  finish  with  a  pipe  above  the  roof  line, 
which  is  the  dangerous  part.  If  that  breaks  off,  at 
least  it  will  not  crush  in  the  roof. 

Amid  the  general  hideousness,  it  is  fair  to  note  the 
Houses  of  Parliament  as  satisfactory,  if  not  exces- 
sively beautiful;  and  many  school  and  college  build- 
ings are  suitable  and  useful.  The  new  Bank  of  Japan 
is  excellent,  and  the  War  and  Navy  Departments,  on 
the  edge  of  the  parade  ground,  are  perhaps  the  best 
of  all,  being  thoroughly  solid  and  dignified.  One 
longs  to  send  a  few  dozen  Japanese  architects  to  study 
in  Italy,  and  learn  the  secret  of  making  beautiful 
brick  and  stone  buildings,  strong  enough  to  bear 
earthquakes,  and  low  and  big-windowed  and  wide- 
roofed  for  southern  suns. 

Of  course,  these  foreign  and  semi-foreign  buildings 
are  a  mere  handful  compared  to  the  mass  of  houses  in 
the  city.  Away  from  Tsukiji  and  the  Ginza  and  the 
various  government  buildings,  you  may  go  miles  with- 
out finding  a  single  chimney.  Street  after  street  is 
lined  with  small,  low  houses,  each  consisting  of  a  shop 
in  front  and  two  or  three  tiny  rooms  behind ;  or  again 


TOKYO— THE  CASTLE  AND  THE  CITY.       125 

there  are   rows  of  dwelling-houses   standing  a  little 
back,  and  having  a  close  fence  and  gate  in  front. 

The  castle  hill  is  the  crowning  height  of  a  group 
which  abuts  on  the  Musashi  plain,  last  spurs  perhaps 
of  the  Hakone  mountains— steep,  crumpled  hills, 
with  sudden  valleys  between,  like  so  many  hills  in 
Japan.  The  palace  is  Japanese  in  general  plan,  but 
has  glass  instead  of  paper  for  the  outside  sliding 
screens,  and  a  steam-heating  plant,  and  in  the  recep- 
tion-rooms much  gorgeously  ugly  European  furniture. 
But  the  beautiful  garden  is  pure  Japanese— a  space  of 
lovely  trees  and  rocks  and  shrubbery  and  running 
streams,  all  hidden  safe  behind  walls  and  belts  of 
pine,  and  higher,  too,  than  anything  around,  unless 
possibly  some  part  of  the  British  Legation,  on  Kudan 
Hill.  To  this  garden  the  outside  world  penetrates 
only  at  stated  times  and  by  special  invitation  ;  but  the 
beauty  of  the  moat  is  free  to  all— "  the  most  beautiful 
thing  in  Tokyo,"  Miss  Bacon  calls  it. 

There  are  two  "  circles,"  so  called,  though  they  are 
anything  but  regular  in  form,  the  inner  moat  sur- 
rounding the  castle  proper  and  the  outer  inclosing 
the  open  space  about  it,  where  the  yashiki  of  the 
Daimyo  used  to  stand.  This  irregularity  of  the  moat 
is  a  large  part  of  the  charm.  Sometimes  the  banks 
are  low,  and  the  gray  walls  rise  direct  from  the  water, 
crowned  by  plastered  ramparts  and  many-storied  gate- 
way towers,  dazzling  white  and  gabled  with  overhang- 
ing black-tiled   roofs;  here  a    wide,    shining    stretch 


126  JAPAN. 

runs  straight  away  for  half  a  mile,  crossed  by  curved 
wooden  bridges,  and  willow-fringed  along  the  road  on 
the  outer  side ;  and  here  again  are  rows  of  cherry 
trees.  Then  a  sharp  turn,  a  mass  of  Cyclopean 
masonry,  and  the  narrow  ribbon  of  water  bends  away 
between  green  banks,  rising  ever  higher  and  higher, 
and  walls  sAvept  over  by  long,  drooping  arms  of  pine. 
They  are  verily  walls  for  giants,  built  of  polygonal 
blocks,  ten,  twenty,  thirty  feet  long,  uncemented,  fitted 
into  the  bank  at  an  even  slope,  and  nowhere  cracked 
or  jarred  out  of  place,  after  nearly  three  centuries  of 
storm  and  earthquake.  On  the  west,  where  the  sides 
of  the  moat  form  almost  a  ravine,  flocks  of  water-fowl 
congregate  in  winter,  swimming  in  the  stream,  and 
resting  among  the  pine  branches  far  up  on  the  palace 
side,  as  safe  and  tame  as. in  some  utter  solitude.  Once 
the  lower  reaches  of  the  moat  were  gorgeous  with 
lotus,  but  the  doctors  decided  that  they  made  the 
water  stagnant  and  unhealthy,  and  a  few  years  ago 
they  were  all  cleared  away.  The  pond  below  Uyeno 
Park  is  the  chief  place  for  lotus  blossoms  now,  and  a 
little  pool  near  the  Shiba  temples. 

On  the  wide  level  east  and  south  of  the  castle,  still 
between  the  inner  and  the  outer  circle,  there  is  now  a 
large  parade  ground,  and  smart  modern  buildings 
have  been  put  up  for  various  official  purposes,  as  well 
as  some  dwelling-houses,  private  or  official.  The 
favorite  residence  quarter  is  on  the  hills  to  the  west 
and  north,  and  here  are  charming  lanes  and  hedges, 


TOKYO— THE   CASTLE  AND  THE  CITY.       127 

or  streets  of  houses,  turning  their  blank  walls  to  the 
road  and  their  faees  to  the  pretty  gardens  hidden 
behind.  Out  this  way  the  city  grows  last,  and  will 
still  faster  when  there  is  better  means  of  communi- 
cation* On  one  of  these  hills  is  the  Aoyama  Palace, 
where  the  late  Empress  Dowager  lived  in  state,  keep- 
ing up  the  old  court  customs  to  the  end.  The  Crown 
Prince's  palace  is  out  this  way,  too,  and  the  Nobles' 
School  for  boys,  and  the  Peeresses'  School ;  and  not 
far  off  the  admirable  Red  Cross  Hospital,  very  dear 
to  the  tender-hearted  little  Empress,  who  often  visits 
it  with  her  ladies.  The  Peeresses'  School  was  founded 
and  endowed  by  the  Empress,  who  attends  commence- 
ments and  watches  over  its  welfare,  as  if  she  were  the 
president  of  a  board  of  trustees.  The  Charity  Hos- 
pital, near  Shiba  Park,  has  also  a  share  of  her  interest 
and  her  visits,  and  she  insists  on  seeing  and  speaking 
to  every  one  of  the  inmates,  that  no  one  may  feel 
neglected.  Probably  few  great  ladies  in  the  world 
live  busier  or  more  useful  lives  than  this  gentle, 
retiring  woman,  who  never  neglects  an  iota  of  the 
duties  of  her  position,  or  forgets  to  be  sympathetic 
toward  those  about  her,  and  who,  with  it  all,  hardly 
knows  the  meaning  of  the  word  health. 

A  little  farther  round  is  the  materialistic,  germ- 
hunting,  Herbert  Spencer  worshiping  Imperial  Uni- 
versity, with  its  various  departments  of  law,  medicine, 
science,  arts — for  this  last,  Chinese  and  Yamato  liter- 
ature are  the   "Humanities."     It   is  up   to  date    all 


128  JAPAN. 

through,  and  always  carrying  on  original  investiga- 
tions, that  now  and  then  run  across  some  item  of 
world-wide  interest,  such  as  a  plague  bacillus  or  an 
earthquake  theory.  At  first  the  leading  spirits  were 
naturally  foreigners,  such  as  Verbeck,  Hepburn, 
Morse,  Lyman,  Griffis  and  a  dozen  others ;  but  they 
have  beeu  gradually  replaced  by  native  professors, 
trained  first  at  home  and  then  in  the  universities  of 
Europe  and  America,  till  now  there  are  left  only  a 
few  foreign  specialists,  who  could  not  well  be  spared. 
The  University  stands  in  what  was  once  Kaga 
Yashiki,  the  fortified  palace  of  the  great  Daimyo  of 
Kaga,  inclosing  trees  and  spacious  grounds.  The 
professors  living  here  when  the  University  was  first 
opened  tell  how  pheasants  nested  in  the  hollows,  and 
how  the  first  token  of  a  coming  earthquake  was  their 
startled  cry  as  they  rose  from  the  ground,  moments 
before  the  faintest  tremor  reached  human  perception. 
Except  the  trees,  there  is  little  of  old  times  left  in 
Kaga  Yashiki.  The  buildings  cover  most  of  its 
lawns,  and  instead  of  sworded  knights,  it  is 
haunted  by  energetic  professors  with  degrees  from  all 
over  the  world,  and  flat-capped,  blue-coated  students, 
spectacled  and  serious,  who  live,  too  many  of  them,  in 
the  cheap,  wretched  boarding-houses  of  the  Kanda 
district,  close  by — Tokyo's  Latin  Quarter.  The  Stu- 
dent Y.  M.  C.  A.  is  striving  to  help  them,  both  in 
body  and  soul,  and  there  can  be  no  more  valuable 
work.     The  latest  returns  show  about  thirteen  hun- 


TOKYO— THE  CASTLE  AND  THE  CITY.       129 

dred  students  enrolled,  ehiefly  under  the  three  prac- 
tical schools  of  law,  medicine  and  engineering.  A 
reading  knowledge  of  some  one  European  language  is 
required,  German  being  chosen  for  the  medical  course, 
French  and  English  for  the  others. 

Viscount  Mori,  who  gave  the  educational  system  its 
modern  organization,  based  it  partly  on  the  American 
and  partly  on  the  German  plan.  All  schools  lead  by 
graded  examinations  to  the  University  (either  Tokyo 
or  Kyoto),  and  certain  degrees  and  licenses  may  be 
taken  by  passing  government  examinations  without 
attending  University  courses. 

There  are  three  grades  in  what  we  should  call  the 
common  schools,  generally  translated  primary,  sec- 
ondary and  middle  school ;  above  these  come  the 
higher  school,  of  which  there  are  six  in  the  empire, 
corresponding  nearly  to  the  German  Gymnasium,  or 
an  advanced  high  school  in  America,  and  preparing 
students  to  enter  the  University,  just  as  the  Gymnasia 
do.  Naturally  the  girls  have  less  offered  them  than 
the  boys ;  their  highest  school  is  the  Girls'  Higher 
Normal,  in  Tokyo,  which  admits  only  after  rigid 
examinations,  and  even  so  has  not  room  for  all  who 
come.  All  teachers  in  government  schools  must  have 
government  certificates,  and  the  Higher  Normal  cannot 
turn  the  girls  out  fast  enough  to  meet  the  demand 
for  teachers  in  the  higher  grades.  It  is  true  their 
ranks  are  more  apt  to  l>e  depleted  by  marriage  than 
in  some  parts  of  the  world. 
Vol.  I.— 9 


130  JAPAN. 

There  are  some  twelve  hundred  schools  of  all  kinds 
in  Tokyo,  among  them  one  of  the  eight  new  schools 
for  languages  which  were  lately  established  through- 
out the  empire,  and  which  oifer  courses  in  Chinese 
and  Korean,  as  well  as  in  English,  Russian  and  other 
European  languages.  English  is  taught  from  the 
middle  school  up,  but  as  a  general  thing  that  is  the 
only  European  language  given  outside  of  the  special 
schools.  Then  there  are  several  great  private  schools, 
such  as  the  one  at  Waseda,  on  the  edge  of  Tokyo, 
which  is  under  Count  Okuma's  patronage;  and  Mr. 
Fukusawa's,  which  has  probably  influenced  Young 
Japan  more  than  any  other  single  ageucy — and  this 
influence  is  largely  on  the  side  of  material  progress,  of 
what  Americans  mean  by  Success.  Besides  all  these, 
there  are  the  mission  schools,  one  or  more  for  nearly 
every  mission,  usually  holding  government  licenses  and 
conforming  to  the  prescribed  curriculum.  Many  are 
valuable  institutions,  with  fine  buildings  and  good 
endowment ;  and  others,  like  the  Ragged  Schools  held 
in  some  parts  of  the  city,  are  doing  incalculable  good 
in  the  quietest  possible  Avay. 

Perhaps  the  greatest  charm  of  Tokyo  is  its  green- 
ness ;  the  trees  are  everywhere,  planted  and  preserved 
with  that  instinctive  delight  in  them  so  universal  in 
Japan.  Often  in  riding  about  the  city  one  comes  upon 
some  splendid  bole,  most  frequently  maple  or  live-oak, 
standing  by  itself  in  a  little  open  space,  and  hung 
around  with  those  ropes  and  knots  of  straw  which  are 


TOKYO— THE  CASTLE  AND  THE  CITY.       131 

always  in  Japan  the  token  of  things  divine.  There 
may  or  may  not  be  a  temple  near  by  ;  it  would  seem 
that  the  mere  bigness  and  beauty  of  the  tree  roused  a 
feeling  that  is  not  quite  worship,  but  rather  a  vague 
sense  of  supernatural  presence.  It  is  the  same  sense 
that  belongs  to  all  "sacred  places"  in  all  lands;  a 
Japanese  does  not  hallow  the  ground  by  building  there 
a  temple,  rather  he  sets  a  shrine  in  the  holy  plae<  — 
even  as  the  Hebrews  did,  and  the  Greeks  and  all 
Aryans. 

In  Japan  the  graves  of  ancestors  share  this  reverence 
with  the  tombs  of  heroes  and  great  men ;  the  greater 
the  hero,  the  longer  the  tradition,  so  much  the  more 
the  sanctity  of  the  spot.  Thus  it  comes  about  that 
while  Tokyo  has  temples  innumerable,  it  is  too  recent 
to  possess  many  which  are  of  more  than  local  renown. 
Only  the  temple  at  Asakusa  goes  back  for  its  founda- 
tion to  the  centuries  when  Yedo  was  an  insignificant 
village;  while  the  tombs  of  the  Shoguns  glorified 
Shiba  and  Uyeno,  as  the  graves  of  the  faithful  Ronin 
do  Senkakuji.  Besides  these,  the  most  important  are 
the  two  Buddhist  Hongwanji,  Monasteries  of  the  True 
Yow,  which  are  very  wealthy  and  influential.  The 
Shinto  temple  on  Kudanzaka  is  fast  becoming  a  sort 
of  Pantheon  and  Westminster  Abbey  combined — a 
place  of  national  rites  for  departed  soldiers  and  great 
men.  The  little  park  beside  it  offers  wrestling  and 
horse-racing  as  attractions  at  festival  times. 

One  thinks  of  Uveno  now  as  a  kind  of  Central  Park, 


132  JAPAN. 

a  place  for  walks  and  drives  and  museums  and  exhibi- 
tions more  or  less  educational ;  but  under  the  Shoguns, 
when  Tokyo  was  Yedo,  what  is  now  the  public  park 
belonged  to  a  magnificent  monastery  and  group  of 
temples,  founded  by  Tokugawa  Ieyasu  to  protect  his 
castle  on  the  northeast— the  "  Devil's  Gate,"  the  quar- 
ter on  which  demons  were  considered  to  be  most  ram- 
pageous. Several  Shoguns  were  buried  there  in  after 
years,  and  the  high  priest  was  always  an  imperial 
prince — not  that  he  had  any  real  power;  he  was 
maintained  there  for  the  sake  of  prestige,  and  as  a 
check  on  the  Court  at  Kyoto.  All  this  gave  Uyeno 
immense  political  power,  which  was  constantly  exer- 
cised for  the  benefit  of  the  Tokugawa,  its  patrons. 

In  1868,  when  the  often-mentioned  struggle  broke 
out  between  the  Imperialists  and  the  Shogunate,  the 
Prince-Abbot  was  a  mere  lad,  of  course  entirely  under 
the  control  of  the  priests,  who  made  use  of  him  in 
every  possible  way.  He  it  was  wThom  the  rebellious 
Tokugawa  finally  proclaimed  Emperor,  and  carried 
off  northward  to  Nikko — of  which  also  he  was  nominal 
abbot — when  the  clans  made  their  last  desperate  stand. 
Meantime  the  great  fight  took  place  at  Uyeno ;  the 
non-combatant  townspeople  were  warned  to  keep  out 
of  the  way  and  given  time  to  remove  their  goods  and 
their  sick,  but  the  monastery  could  not  be  saved ;  the 
great  temple  took  fire  from  a  shell  and  was  burned, 
with  all  its  beautiful  contents.  There  is  left  only  a 
wonderful  carved  gate,  and  the  shrines  of  the  Sho- 


TOKYO— THE  CASTLE  AND  THE  CITY.       ]33 

guns — one  of  them  is  very  ornate  and  beautiful — and 
a  high  wooden  torii  before  an  avenue  of  stone  lanterns 
leading  to  the  principal  shrine.  As  for  the  young 
Prince  Kita  Shirakawa,  the  sometime  high  priest,  he 
was  speedily  pardoned  and  sent  abroad  to  study,  and 
served  afterward  as  an  officer  in  the  army,  dying  of 
fever  while  on  duty  in  Formosa,  during  the  war  with 
China.  Stamp  collectors  know  his  face,  for  it  is  on 
one  of  the  memorial  stamps  put  out  in  1895,  the  por- 
trait of  his  cousin,  Prince  Arisugawa,  being  on  the 
other. 

After  the  Restoration  the  Uyeno  temple  grounds 
were  turned  over  to  the  government  and  made  into  a 
public  park.  The  Imperial  Museum  stands  on  the  site 
of  the  main  temple,  and  contains — besides  birds  and 
animals — some  interesting  collections  illustrating  more 
especially  the  life  of  feudal  times.  There  are  arms 
and  armor,  and  the  ox- cars  and  lacquered  norimon  or 
litters  in  which  nobles  used  to  ride  ;  these  last  were  a 
good  deal  like  sedan  chairs,  only  that  of  course  the 
inmate  sat  on  his  heels  on  a  cushion.  The  owner's  mon 
or  crest  was  on  the  sides,  and  the  poles  and  other  parts 
were  fastened  with  metal  beautifully  chased.  There 
are  some  good  kakemono  in  the  museum,  and  a  good 
deal  of  pottery,  also  a  beautiful  life-sized  portrait 
statue  of  an  old  priest,  brought  here  from  Nara.  The 
wrinkled  old  face  is  tender  and  benign  as  one  of  Fra 
Angelico's  Dominican  saints.  A  reference  library-,  art 
school  and  school  of  music  are  all  close  by.     Besides 


J34  JAPAN. 

these,  three  or  four  temporary-looking  wooden  build- 
ings are  used  now  and  then  for  exhibitions  of  art  or 
industry,  and  there  is  a  zoological  garden,  scenic  rail- 
road, and  a  panorama  of  the  taking  of  Port  Arthur — 
this  last  exceedingly  popular.  It  is  all  very  good  and 
very  improving,  bat  one  cannot  help  rather  resenting 
the  bare,  ugly  buildings  in  this  beautiful  spot ;  it  is  a 
high,  broad  hill,  heavily  wooded,  looking  over  the  lotus 
pond  at  its  foot  to  the  vast  city  stretching  away  into 
pearl-colored  haze. 

Asakusa  temple  lies  over  near  the  river,  where  a 
tiny  golden  image  of  Kwannon,  the  Goddess  of  Mercy, 
was  found  in  the  sea  half  a  dozen  centuries  ago,  when 
the  sea  came  all  the  way  up  here.  It  is  far  the  most 
popular  shrine  in  the  city  ;  the  long  flagged  walk  lead- 
ing up  from  the  gate  is  lined  with  shops  and  booths 
and  penny  shows,  and  thronged  always  with  a  double 
stream  of  people  pouring  in  and  out.  The  temple 
itself  is  built  up  high  on  a  timber  foundation,  and  has 
a  gallery  all  round  where  children  play  and  pigeons 
flutter;  inside  it  is  full  of  glitter  and  flashy  ornament, 
utterly  unlike  the  quiet  dignity  of  what  is  left  at 
Uveno,  or  the  sumptuous  splendors  of  Shiba.  The 
original  image  is  so  very  sacred  that  its  shrine  is  never 
opened  ;  a  small  gold  statuette  of  the  goddess  does 
duty  on  festival  days.  At  all  times  there  are  wor- 
shipers before  the  altar,  mostly  women  and  old 
people,  with  palms  together  over  a  rosary ;  bowing 
and  clapping  their  hands  as  they  murmur  over  and 


TOKYO— THE  CASTLE  AND  THE   CITY.       135 

over  again  the  sacred  formula,  Namu  Amida  Butsu — 
Kama  Amida  Butsu  to  the  continual  clatter  of  thin 
copper  rin  tossed  on  the  slatted  offering  box.  At  one 
side  of  the  high  altar  is  a  pathetic  wooden  figure  of 
Jizo,  rubbed  almost  out  of  recognition  by  the  hands 
of  sick  people,  who  touch  the  image  and  then  the 
ailing  part,  whispering  a  prayer  to  the  All  Merciful. 

Near  the  temple  at  Asakusa  there  is  a  small  park 
which  is  one  of  the  most  amusing  sights  in  the  city, 
for  it  is  always  full  of  peep-shows  and  jugglers  and 
trick  monkeys,  and  peddlers  of  jumping-jacks  and 
tumblers  and  paper  butterflies,  and  sidewalk  "fakes" 
of  every  kind,  together  with  a  motley  crowd  of  gazers 
all  agrin  with  delight.  A  huge,  clumsy  observation 
tower  rises  close  by,  popularly  called  the  "twelve- 
story;"  its  pinkish  wooden  octagon  makes  a  landmark 
for  miles  across  the  flat  region  along  the  river. 

To  give  the  rulers  all  the  credit  for  Tokyo's  pros- 
perity is  to  forget  two  things,  the  river  and  the  tides. 
To  all  the  lower  part  the  tide  is  as  necessary  as  ever  it 
is  to  Venice  ;  sweeping  through  miles  of  narrow,  twist- 
ing canals,  washing  their  stone-laced  embankments,  it 
brings  the  clean  salt  smell  into  the  most  crowded  parts 
of  the  city,  and  carries  an  immense  number  of  flat 
barges,  loaded  with  produce  from  the  country.  The 
river  is  navigable  for  small  boats  far  up  across  the 
Musashi  plain,  and  by  it,  too,  come  down  boat-loads  of 
fagots  from  the  mountains,  and  piles  of  bags  filled 
with  charcoal,  and  again  timber  for  building  and  great 


136  JAPAN. 

bundles  of  bamboo  poles.  In  certain  streets  near  the 
river  the  tiny  yards  are  stacked  full  of  these  over- 
grown fishing  rods,  which  lean  against  the  houses  and 
quite  overtop  their  low  roofs.  Such  neighborhoods 
are  inhabited  by  carpenters  and  cabinet-makers — for 
the  Japanese  do  use  some  furniture,  after  all.  There 
are  chests  of  various  sizes,  metal-bound  and  tightly 
locked;  little  writing  desks,  with  drawers  for  paper  and 
inkstone ;  and,  most  frequently  of  all,  the  small  bureau 
or  tansu,  made  as  a  rule  in  pairs  of  two  drawers  each. 
These  tansu  have  handles  at  the  sides,  so  that  in  case 
of  a  fire  the  drawers  may  be  picked  up  and  carried 
out  without  difficulty.  In  good  old  pieces  the  wood 
is  beautifully  grained  and  polished,  and  the  metal- 
work  finely  wrought. 

Morning  and  evening  the  narrow  channels  of  the 
bay  are  thronged  with  square-sailed  junks  coming  and 
going,  with  here  and  there  a  schooner  or  a  little  steamer 
plying  to  one  of  the  villages  lower  down.  Small 
steamboats  run  up  and  down  the  river  inside  the  city, 
calling  at  the  bridges,  now  this  side  and  now  that; 
the  fare  is  a  penny  or  so,  and  the  accommodation  a  tiny 
cabin,  with  a  matted  floor  on  which  to  sit.  There  are 
pleasure  boats,  too,  and  sampan  ferries  crossing  to  the 
Chiba  side  or  to  Mukojima. 

Five  bridges  cross  the  Sumida,  some  iron,  and  some 
picturesque  wooden  ones,  like  Ryogoku-bashi,  which 
sweeps  over  in  a  noble  curve,  supported  on  a  maze  of 
posts  and  rafters.     The  famous  Nihon-bashi,  by  the 


TOKYO— THE  CASTLE  AND  THE  CITY.       137 

way — the  point  from  which  distances  are  reckoned 
throughout  the  Empire — is  not  across  the  Sumida  at 
all,  but  over  one  of  its  canal-like  tributaries.  Adzuma- 
bashi  is  counted  the  finest  of  the  Sumida  bridges,  and 
it  is  the  highest  up  the  river  of  all ;  near  it  and  above 
are  many  resorts  of  pleasure  seekers,  more  or  less  repu- 
table— Asakusa  on  the  city  side,  and  the  famous  Yoshi- 
wara  beyond,  and  on  the  other  bank  Mukojima,  of 
cherry-blossom  revelry,  and  a  mile  or  so  farther  up  the 
beautiful  iris  fields  of  Hori-kiri.  Eko-in,  where  the 
annual  wrestling  matches  are  held,  is  a  mile  lower  down 
on  this  left  bank,  close  to  Ryogoku-bashi.  Naturally 
the  entire  quarter  is  a  poor  one ;  the  streets  are 
crowded  and  houses  small,  dirty  and  ruinous.  In 
these  districts  a  three-roomed  dwelling  seems  quite 
palatial ;  many  are  built  in  a  row  like  a  train  of  cars, 
each  tenement  being  three  mats  large,  that  is  to  say, 
nine  feet  by  six.  Mere  hovels  they  seem,  but  at  least 
there  is  plenty  of  light  and  air.  Such  houses  rent  at 
three  or  four  sen  a  day — equal  to  two  or  three  cents  of 
our  money — and  this  rent  is  collected  daily,  ibr  the 
people  would  never  get  together  a  whole  month's  bill 
at  a  time.  It  would  be  no  use  to  bring  in  the  sheriff 
to  sell  them  out,  for  they  own  nothing  but  a  few 
broken  cooking  pots  and  some  dirty  bedding,  and 
even  these  sometimes  go  to  the  pawnshop  in  the  morn- 
ing and  are  taken  out  at  night. 

From  Asakusa  and  Adzuma-bashi  it  is  a  good  five 
miles  right  across  the  city  to  Shiba,  where  as  at  Uyeno 


138  JAPAN. 

the  temple  grounds  have  been  taken  for  a  public  park. 
Nothing  could  be  more  unlike  Asakusa ;  except  on  a 
few  special  days  the  stone  courts  are  almost  deserted, 
and  the  steep  wooded  slopes  might  be  far  away  in 
some  mountain  solitude,  so  still  it  is,  though  the  city  lies 
about  it  on  every  side.  Far  up,  where  only  children 
come  to  play,  a  single  tomb  stands  on  a  pebbled  espla- 
nade ;  stone  lanterns  flank  the  open  space,  and  behind 
them  against  the  dark  trees  single-flowering  camelias, 
pink  and  white,  scatter  a  carpet  of  petals  among  the 
stones.  The  crows  call  in  the  pines  and  kites  wheel 
and  pipe  overhead,  and  the  city's  noises  reach  only  in 
a  far  off  murmur  to  the  Shogun's  resting  place. 

The  temples  are  under  the  hill,  skirted  by  an  avenue 
of  pines  leaning  every  way,  their  sweeping  branches 
carefully  propped  in  winter,  lest  sleet  and  snow  should 
break  them.  The  original  main  temple  was  burned  in 
1868,  in  revenge,  it  is  said,  because  of  the  Shinto 
"  purifying  "  done  here,  as  in  other  places,  in  the  first 
zeal  of  the  Restoration.  It  was  rebuilt  on  a  smaller 
scale,  and  seems  rather  overpowered  by  the  great  two- 
storied  red  gate,  which  escaped  the  fire — very  fortu- 
nately, for  it  is  beautifully  proportioned  and  altogether 
a  noble  specimen  of  timber  architecture.  Like  others 
of  its  type,  the  chief  characteristic  of  this  gate  is  the 
heavy  overhanging  roof  of  black  tiles,  the  corners  of 
it  slightly  curved  upward  in  the  Chinese  manner, 
which  rests  on  a  complicated  structure  of  cross-beams 
and  brackets.     The  gate  is  almost  without  decoration 


TOKYO-TTIE  CASTLE  AND  THE  CITY.       139 

except  the  dull  red  coloring,  and  the  whole  effect  is  plain 
and  almost  severely  dignified.  Far  more  ornate  is  the 
second  small  entrance  farther  along  the  road,  the 
corner  posts  of  which  are  clasped  by  splendid  golden 
dragons,  and  which  in  every  part  is  carved,  colored 
and  gilded  most  lavishly.  The  smaller  temple  build- 
ings and  many  of  the  treasures  were  saved  from  the 
burning,  and  the  interiors  are  full  of  brass  and  bronze 
and  gold,  lacquer  and  embroidery.  Seen  in  the 
shadow  of  the  trees  and  wide  roofs,  the  warm  half- 
light  subdues  the  splendor  and  all  but  conceals  a  cer- 
tain over-gorgeousness,  a  crowding  of  color  and  detail, 
which  is  not  felt  at  all  in  the  temples  of  Nikko. 

The  five-storied  red  pagoda  stands  on  a  little  terrace 
half  way  up  the  south  slope  of  the  hill.  It  seems 
almost  too  much  shut  in  by  great  trees,  yet,  even  so, 
the  impression  of  it  is  exceedingly  fine,  finer  perhaps 
than  that  of  the  pagoda  at  Nikko,  with  which  one 
involuntarily  compares  it.  These  pagodas  are  mar- 
vels of  strength  and  elasticity ;  story  rests  on  story  in 
a  maze  of  wooden  beams  and  braces  and  brackets,  and 
however  the  ground  may  heave  under  them  the  parts 
play  upon  one  another  like  the  timbers  of  a  ship. 
But  there  is  still  another  safeguard  ;  inside  hangs  a 
huge  beam,  a  sort  of  pendulum,  swung  from  the  top 
like  the  tongue  of  a  bell,  and  this  is  the  secret  of  the 
pagoda's  safety ;  however  far  the  top  may  sway,  the 
swinging  beam  steadies  it  and  it  maintains  its  poise. 

Up  on  the  hill  above  the  temples  there  is  a  semi- 


14o  JAPAN. 

foreign  restaurant,  which  never  seems  to  be  much 
patronized  by  anybody,  in  spite  of  fine  trees  about  it 
and  a  very  pretty  view  across  the  bay ;  and  farther 
up  still  is  the  exceedingly  popular  house  called  the 
Ko  Yo  Kwan,  or  Maple  Club,  which  is  a  favorite 
place  for  giving  little  dinners  that  often  have  more 
than  a  little  political  significance.  The  Maple  Club 
geisha  have  the  reputation  of  being  the  best  dancers 
in  Tokyo,  and  tourists  usually  come  here  to  see  the 
"  butterfly "  or  the  "  maple  dance,' '  and  to  try  a 
Japanese  feast.  Everything  about  the  house  is  strictly 
in  Japanese  style ;  under  no  consideration  whatever 
will  the  proprietors  consent  to  lay  carpets  and  permit 
the  use  of  chairs  and  tables.  They  say  if  they  yielded 
once  every  party  of  officials  would  demand  it,  since 
nobody  hates  the  bother  of  taking  off  his  shoes  more 
than  a  Japanese  in  European  dress,  and  the  character 
of  the  house  would  be  changed  and  spoiled  forever. 

There  are  no  shops  or  shows  at  Shiba,  only  a  few 
fruit  and  cake  stands  in  front  of  the  great  red  gate ; 
instead,  people  go  shopping  just  across  the  road  at  the 
Kwankoba — that  is  to  say,  the  bazaar. 

There  are  many  of  these  Kwankoba  in  Tokyo,  but 
none  so  large  or  so  good  as  this  in  Shiba.  It  is  simply 
a  good-sized  wooden  building,  divided  up  into  aisles 
which  zigzag  back  and  forth  through  the  entire  space, 
so  that  when  you  begin  to  go  through  you  must  go  on 
to  the  end,  or  else  turn  back  by  the  very  same  lanes 
to  the  beginning  again.     The  spaces  on  each  side  of 


TOKYO-THE   CASTLE  AND  THE  CITY.       141 

the  aisles  are  lined  with  shelves  and  rented  to  mer- 
chants of  all  manner  of  goods,  china,  wood  and  metal, 
quilts,  household  wares  of  every  kind,  dress  materials, 
sashes  and  neck-pieces,  shoes  (Japanese  ones  of  straw 
or  wood),  stationery,  toys,  lacquer — in  a  word,  what- 
ever is  used  in  Japan.  Every  article  is  marked  with 
its  price  in  Japanese  letters,  and  all  is  spread  out 
temptingly  in  full  view,  which  is  not  the  case  in  the 
ordinary  shops.  Each  dealer  is  quite  independent  of 
all  the  rest,  paying  rent  for  his  own  particular  space 
as  if  it  were  a  separate  house,  though  the  same  kind 
of  goods  are  apt  to  appear  near  together.  The  Shiba 
Kwankoba  displays  everyday  Japanese  life  in  a  nut- 
shell, and  is  very  interesting  merely  to  see,  as  well  as 
a  capital  place  to  shop  for  Japanese  articles. 

It  is  a  couple  of  miles  farther,  between  a  long  ridge 
and  the  bay,  before  you  climb  a  hill  to  one  of  the 
most  intensely  national  shrines  in  all  Japan — the 
graves  of  the  Forty-seven  Eonin.  The  story  has 
been  told  and  retold  till  one  hardly  dares  repeat  it, 
how  one  lord  deliberately  provoked  another  into 
drawing  his  sword  in  the  precincts  of  the  Shogun's 
palace— a  crime  punished  by  death  ;  how  the  dead 
Asano's  chief  retainer  secretly  organized  a  band  of  his 
fellows,  now  become  Ronin  (masterless  knights),  who 
scattered  to  abide  their  time  ;  how,  to  throw  the 
euemy  off  his  guard,  this  chief,  Oiso,  drank  and  gave 
himself  up  to  the  lowest  life,  till  even  a  former  ac- 
quaintance kicked  and  spat  on  him  as  he  lay  in  a  gut- 


142  JAPAN. 

ter,  calling  him  a  miscreant  too  cowardly  to  avenge 
his  lord.  And  when  at  last  the  enemy  ceased  to  fear, 
the  band  broke  into  his  yashiki  one  snowy  night, 
overpowered  the  retainers  and  invited  him  to  an 
honorable  hara-kiri — an  invitation  which  he  had  not 
the  courage  to  accept.  So  they  killed  him,  and  took 
his  head,  and,  marching  as  in  a  religions  procession, 
came  to  the  hill  and  the  little  grove  where  their  lord 
lies.  At  the  well  below  they  washed  the  head,  offered 
it  reverently  at  the  tomb,  burned  incense  one  by  one, 
and  then  went  quietly  to  the  authorities  and  gave 
themselves  up  for  the  inevitable  death  penalty.  The 
law  took  its  course,  in  spite  of  universal  approbation 
of  the  deed.  All  the  knights  killed  themselves  duly, 
and  were  buried  on  the  hillside  near  their  lord.  The 
last  act  of  the  tragedy  was  the  coming  of  the  man  who 
had  insulted  Oiso  in  the  ditch.  He  told  his  shame 
and  sorrow,  burned  incense  and  killed  himself  at 
Oiso's  tomb,  and  so  was  judged  worthy  to  lie  beside 
the  band. 

All  this  happened  something  over  two  hundred 
years  ago,  near  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century. 
Everywhere  about  the  place  are  -signs  of  reverent  care. 
Great  pine  trees  shade  the  walled  inclosure,  incense 
smoulders  unceasingly  and  visiting  cards  by  the 
hundreds  are  laid  upon  the  tombs.  In  the  tiny 
chapel  below  relics  are  kept  —  the  armor  which 
they  wore,  swords  and  spears,  and  writing  materials 
such  as  Samurai   carried,   effigies  of   the  band,  Oiso 


TOKYO— THE  CASTLE  AND  THE  CITY.        143 

himself,  and  among  the  rest  Oiso's  fourteen-year-old 
son. 

That  was,  that  is,  Japan.  Loyalty,  absolute,  un- 
hesitating loyalty,  the  one  virtue  and  the  one  duty  for 
which,  if  needful,  all  personal  interests  and  duties 
must  become  null  and  void.  That  is  what  a  Japanese 
to-day  all  but  worships  in  those  heroes  of  his — the 
ideal  he  desires  to  realize  in  his  own  life  toward  Japan 
and  the  Emperor.  Taken  as  an  attitude  of  mind,  it 
may  help  to  explain  some  things  in  Japanese  life, 
which,  from  a  Western  point  of  view,  are  childish — or 
worse. 


CHAPTER  XI 


TOKYO   STREETS. 


The  streets  of  Tokyo  are  a  never-failing  source  of 
amusement.  Like  all  Southerners,  the  common  people 
almost  live  in  them,  with  a  naive  unconcern  about 
privacy  or  its  absence,  quite  unlike  the  retiring  ways 
of  the  upper  class.  There  are  no  sidewalks;  the 
road  is  simply  macadamized,  and  everybody  strolls 
serenely  down  the  middle,  moving  out  just  a  foot  or 
two  at  the  kurumaya's  frantic  "hai-hai!"  as  they 
dash  past.  One  never  quite  gets  over  wondering  why 
the  runners  do  not  kill  somebody,  but  accidents  are 
really  very  few ;  still,  they  do  not  trust  horses  in  the 
thick  of  it  without  a  betto  or  groom  running  ahead, 
and  now  and  then  picking  up  a  baby  or  turning  an 
old  crone  gently  out  of  the  way.  Even  the  widest 
streets  always  seem  crowded,  there  are  so  many  old 
people,  and  so  many  children  with  babies  on  their 
backs.  If  the  family  supply  of  real  babies  gives  out, 
the  tiniest  girl  has  a  doll  tied  on  her  shoulders,  so 
that  she  may  learn  how  to  hold  it  and  be  ready  for  a 
small  brother  or  a  neighbor's  child.  The  poor  little 
baby  heads  tumble  around  till  one  feels  sure  they 
must  fall  off;  but  nobody  seems  to  mind,  baby  least 

144 


TOKYO  STREETS.  145 

of  all.  Playing  tag,  hop-scotch  and  swinging  on  a 
see-saw  are  among  the  amusements  practiced  any  day 
by  five  and  six-year-olds,  plus  a  bundle  anywhere 
from  a  week  up.  The  small  morsel  half  sits  on  the 
hump  of  its  sister's  sash,  half  rests  on  a  wide  band 
which  passes  under  the  little  thighs  and  over  her 
shoulders,  and  then  back  and  around  again,  leaving 
the  child's  arms  and  bare  feet  quite  free.  In  winter 
the  sister  slips  her  wadded  haori  on  over  baby  and 
all,  and  it  peeps  out  atop,  like  a  little  Eskimo  from  its 
mother's  hood.  They  seem  to  sleep  most  of  the  time, 
as  babies  should,  and  it  really  is  a  fact  that  they  very, 
very  seldom  cry. 

Often  one  sees  a  group  of  these  frowsy-headed, 
barefoot  youngsters  settle  by  the  roadside,  squatting 
on  their  wooden  clogs,  and  fluttering  and  chirping  like 
so  many  brown  sparrows.  They  are  probably  play- 
ing hen  ("  fist "),  which  is  a  form  of  one  of  the  oldest 
games  on  earth — the  game  the  Italians  call  Moro. 
Yet  another  version  of  this  came  to  us  from  the  north 
of  Ireland  in  our  childhood;  you  hid  your  face  in 
Susan's  lap,  and  she  held  her  fingers  over  your  head, 
saying : 

"  Holy,  boly,  trumpty  chase, 
The  cow  goes  through  the  market  place; 
How  many  horns  stand  up  ?" 

The  Japanese  say  that  their  game  of  ken  came  from 
China,  but  though   it  is  played   both   there   and   in 
Vol.  I.— 10 


146  JAPAN. 

Korea,  it  probably  came  to  Japan  with  the  first 
migrations  of  the  race  as  part  of  their  original  civil- 
ization. It  is  true  that  one  variety  did  come  from 
the  Chinese  during  the  period  of  trade  intercourse  at 
Nagasaki  in  the  seventeenth  century,  and  became  all 
the  rage.  In  this  form  the  two  players  put  out  their 
hands  at  the  same  moment,  each  calling  out  a  number, 
which  he  guesses  to  be  the  sum  of  all  the  fingers  held 
up  by  both.  At  drinking  parties,  one  who  makes  a 
wrong  guess  must  drink  a  cup  of  wine.  This  ken 
was  so  popular  in  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth 
century  that  tournaments  were  held  in  arenas  fitted  up 
for  the  purpose  in  imitation  of  the  wrestlers'  ring,  and 
umpires  sat  all  day  to  judge  the  contests ;  but  it  is 
hardly  played  at  all  now. 

The  other  kind  has  four  varieties,  in  each  of  which 
there  are  three  positions  of  the  hand  or  body  to  rep- 
resent some  instrument  or  animal.  The  four  are  the 
"snail,"  the  "stone,"  the  "fox"  and  the  "tiger 
ken."  The  "stone"  is  one  of  the  easiest  and  the 
most  commonly  played ;  in  it  only  the  right  hand  is 
used.  The  closed  fist  means  a  stone,  the  flat  open 
hand  is  a  piece  of  paper,  and  two  fingers  spread  apart 
stand  for  a  pair  of  scissors.  The  scissors  can  cut 
the  paper,  but  the  paper  wraps  the  stone,  and  the 
stone  again  can  dull  the  scissors,  which  means,  of 
course,  that  A  conquers  B,  B  rules  C,  and  so 
back  again.  This  and  the  "  snail  "  are  the  children's 
favorites,    and   the   kuruma   men    very  often  play  a 


TOKYO  STREETS.  147 

round  of  "stone"  to  decide  their  turns,  instead  of 
pulling  straws. 

The  "  tiger "  game  is  more  elaborate ;  it  is  based 
on  a  classical  Chinese  drama,  in  which  the  hero  goes 
into  the  forest  with  his  mother.  A  tiger  attacks  the 
woman,  but  it  is  killed  by  the  man,  who  bows  to  his 
mother,  as  a  dutiful  son  should.  This  play  needs  the 
whole  body,  and  accordingly  the  actors  come  out  from 
behind  a  screen  ;  the  tiger  goes  on  all  fours ;  the  man 
raises  a  clenched  fist,  and  the  mother  hobbles  like  a 
bent  old  woman  leaning  on  a  stick. 

"  Fox  ken  "  is  very  popular,  and  it  is  above  all  the 
geisha's  game,  which  they  must  learn  to  play  both 
gracefully  and  so  swiftly  that  one  can  hardly  follow 
their  motions.  In  the  "  fox  "  all  the  positions  are 
made  with  the  hands ;  the  two  raised  on  either  side 
of  the  head  are  Reynard's  ears ;  the  right  hand  put 
forward  closed  means  a  gun,  which  a  hunter  carries ; 
and  the  two  hands  laid  primly  on  the  knees  repre- 
sents a  village  headman.  This  headman  is  bewitched 
by  the  fox  (Japanese  foxes  are  generally  enchanted, 
and  they  play  more  tricks  than  Brer  Rabbit),  but  the 
hunter  kills  the  fox  ;  and  then  in  turn  must  bow  to 
the  headman,  his  superior  in  rank.  They  say  a 
young  geisha  often  sits  playing  fox  ken  with  her 
shadow  on  the  shoji,  to  learn  the  quickest  and  pret- 
tiest gestures ;  but  the  game  is  rather  beyond  our 
little  street  sparrows. 

For  half  the  day  the  schools  claim  a  large  propor- 


148  JAPAN. 

tiou  of  the  children  in  Tokyo  and  elsewhere,  but  for 
the  poorest  even  the  pittance  needed  for  books  and 
materials  is  more  than  they  can  afford,  and  their 
schooling  is  very  brief.  Boys  get  to  work  early  in 
life,  either  at  the  family  trade  or  in  some  shop,  while 
the  little  girls  help  in  the  house  or  take  care  of  a 
neighbor's  baby,  if  there  is  none  at  home.  Many 
little  shops  make  what  they  sell,  and  the  children 
help  in  the  work  or  run  errands  for  customers, 
besides  minding  the  place  when  the  older  ones  are 
busy. 

There  are  an  immense  number  of  second-hand 
shops  in  Tokyo,  some  dealing  only  in  more  or  less 
artistic  wares — "  curios,"  as  the  phrase  is — and  others 
selling  all  manner  of  odds  and  ends  of  clothing ; 
household  goods,  broken  or  not ;  even  straw  and  old 
baskets  and  boxes,  which  are  broken  up  and  used  for 
fuel.  These  shops  often  club  together  and  hold  an 
auction  of  such  things  as  do  not  sell  quickly  enough. 
The  very  poor  often  do  not  own  warm  clothing  for 
the  day  or  quilts  to  sleep  on,  and  are  forced  to  hire 
from  the  pawnshops,  taking  one  out  and  putting  the 
other  back  in  the  morning  and  evening.  Many  of 
these  poor  creatures  have  no  proper  habitation  at  all, 
but  sleep  in  a  cheap  inn,  and  spend  the  whole  day 
out  of  doors,  working  or  peddling  things  for  sale. 

The  shops  stand  open  to  the  street,  under  a  shelter- 
ing projection  of  roof;  the  more  pretentious  ones 
hang  strips  of  cotton  cloth   in  front  like  a  curtain, 


TOKYO  STREETS.  149 

each  strip  stamped  with  the  house-sign  or  trade-mark, 
yarjirushi — picturesque  ideographs  in  bold  strokes, 
white  on  navy  blue  or  blue  on  white.  Others  are  all 
open,  showing  piled-up  crockery,  brooms  and  sieves 
and  wooden-ware,  clogs  and  sandals,  piece  goods,  tea- 
jars,  fruit  or  vegetables,  or  whatever.  The  floor  is 
raised  and  matted,  and  the  buyer  sits  down  on  the 
edge,  without  needing  to  take  off  his  shoes ;  the 
dealer,  seated  among  his  wares,  pushes  forward  a 
hibachi  of  coals,  not  for  warmth,  but  to  light  the  tiny 
pipe  which  every  man  and  woman  carries  at  the 
girdle ;  three  little  puffs  will  do,  as  an  aid  to  the  bar- 
gain. If  you  are  considered  an  important  customer, 
sometimes  they  serve  minute  cups  of  tea.  All  Tokyo 
is  full  of  such  small  shops,  where  the  owner  often 
makes  what  he  sells;  here  again  the  village  life  per- 
sisting in  the  vast  city,  one  wonders  for  how  much 
longer  now. 

There  are  great  firms,  too,  which  have  been  estab- 
lished for  generations,  such  as  the  salt-fish  house  in 
Nihon-bashi,  where  people  give  New  Year  orders  for 
gifts  of  fish  to  be  delivered  on  demand— sometimes 
not  for  months  or  even  a  year  or  two  later.  Then 
there  are  the  great  silk  shops,  like  Dai  Maru  Ichi 
and  Ichigaya's — these  also  are  in  Nihon-bashi,  the 
busiest  part  of  Tokyo.  Far  down  the  street  you  can 
hear  the  din  of  these  big  shops ;  as  soon  as  a  cus- 
tomer lifts  the  curtain,  the  whole  force  of  clerks  and 
errand  boys  shout  in  chorus  Irashal  I — "  Please  come 


150  JAPAN. 

in!"  You  ask  for  something;  the  clerk  who  is  wait- 
ing on  you  repeats  the  order,  and  "  Hai !"  chant  all 
the  boys  again,  while  one  dashes  off  to  fetch  what  is 
required.  Repeat  da  capo,  till  the  customer  departs 
in  a  perfect  storm  of  arigato  and  sayonara  and  matal 
irashai — "honorably  come  again !" — the  livelier  the 
trade,  the  merrier  the  noise. 

All  this  uproar  is  in  the  large  first  room  on  the 
street,  but  up  stairs  and  far  within,  where  the  choicest 
goods  are  kept,  all  is  dignity  and  quiet ;  room  after 
room,  matted  and  speckless,  piled  with  rolls  of  silk 
and  crapes,  like  some  "  Arabian  Nights  "  tale  of  royal 
gifts.  Here  the  guest  is  seated,  of  course  upon  the 
floor,  and  roll  after  roll  is  laid  out — brocades,  gor- 
geous obi  (sashes),  flowered  under-robes,  heavy  kaiki 
and  close  habutai,  sumptuous  gold  thread  and  delicate 
gauzy  chirimens,  embroideries  and  colors  and  textures 
past  dreaming  of.  A  morning  at  Ichigaya's  is  dis- 
tinctly educating  to  the  senses,  and  as  distinctly  dan- 
gerous to  one's  bank  account. 

Such  a  firm  carries  immensely  valuable  stock,  and 
keeps  most  of  it  not  in  the  shop,  but  in  go-downs, 
which  are  fairly  fireproof.  Go-down,  by  the  way,  is 
the  universal  Far  East  English  for  storehouse ;  Hearn 
says  it  is  a  corruption  of  a  Malay  word,  gadan  ;  the 
Japanese  word  is  kura.  They  are  quite  a  marked 
feature  of  Tokyo  scenery,  these  black-roofed,  daz- 
zling white  go-downs ;  they  are  comparatively  small, 
high  and  narrow,  the  thick  plaster  walls  sloping  out 


TOKYO  STREETS.  151 

a  little  at  the  bottom,  the  windows  very  small  and 
high  up,  tightly  elosed  by  thick  iron  shutters.  Well- 
to-do  private  families  use  them,  too,  for  it  is  a  thor- 
oughly characteristic  Japanese  habit  to  keep  most  of 
one's  possessions  shut  up  out  of  sight,  and  produce 
them,  a  few  at  a  time,  to  please  and  honor  a  guest — 
a  custom  handed  down  probably  from  early,  uncer- 
tain times,  and  perpetuated  by  earthquakes  and  fires 
till  it  has  become  a  cardinal  point  of  social  a?sthetics. 
A  sharp  earthquake,  though,  is  rather  hard  on  the 
go-downs;  it  is  apt  to  crack  the  plaster,  and  then, 
if  a  fire  breaks  out  before  they  are  mended,  good-by 
to  the  careful  stores. 

Fires  were  much  worse  in  the  old  days  than  now, 
when  nearly  all  roofs  are  tiled— a  luxury  formerly 
allowed  only  to  nobles'  residences — but  they  are  still 
bad  enough,  sweeping  sometimes  three  or  four  hun- 
dred little  houses  in  a  single  windy  night.  The 
modern  fire  companies  are  very  active  and  efficient, 
with  all  the  means  at  hand,  and  the  new  fire-engines 
exceedingly  useful ;  but  the  great  difficulty  is  an 
insufficient  water  supply  in  many  parts  of  the  city. 
Watchmen  are  on  guard  night  and  day  on  the  pictur- 
esque fire-lookouts — tall  ladders  at  the  street  corners, 
each  with  a  bell  and  a  crow's  nest  for  the  watch.  If 
he  sees  anything,  he  strikes  the  bell,  one  stroke  if  it 
is  far  away,  two  strokes  nearer,  three  for  his  own 
ward  ;  and  if  it  is  close  by,  the  hammer  clangs  fast 
and  furiously,  warning  every  one   to   rush    out   and 


152  JAPAN. 

help  or  save  themselves.  "  Kaji  ga,  Tokyo  no  liana 
da"  says  the  ominous  proverb — "Fires  are  Tokyo's 
flowers." 

Naturally  there  are  more  fires  in  winter,  when 
everybody  has  open  charcoal  braziers  standing  about, 
and  worse  still,  glass  kerosene  lamps  for  the  long 
evenings.  But  February  and  March  have  the  worst 
record  of  all ;  it  is  then  that  the  northwest  winds 
sweep  over  the  city,  and  then,  too,  that  wells  are  low 
and  woodwork  dried,  after  four  nearly  rainless  months. 

From  all  accounts,  the  firemen  of  feudal  times  were 
a  much  livelier  set  than  they  are  now.  Inouye  thinks 
it  was  the  spirit  of  the  place :  "  The  people  of  Osaka 
and  Kyoto,  living  as  they  did  by  pure  trade  or 
hereditary  callings,  were  naturally  frugal  and  did 
nothing  merely  for  show.  The  case  was  different  in 
Yedo.  It  was  a  new  city,  and  the  people,  gaining 
their  livelihood  through  the  luxurious  habits  of  the 
Daimyo,  came  in  time  to  imitate  their  extravagance. 
In  this  respect  the  fireman  was  among  the  greatest 
sinners ;  he  took  pride  in  squandering  money,  and 
considered  it  a  shame  to  let  a  day's  earnings  remain 
over  night  in  his  purse.  It  was  and  is  still,  for 
instance,  reckoned  a  luxury  to  eat  the  first  bonito  of 
the  season.  The  fireman  regarded  it  as  worse  than 
dishonor  to  be  prevented  by  want  of  means  from 
tasting  it,  and  his  wife,  sharing  her  husband's  spirit, 
would  pawn  everything,  even  the  very  clothes  on  her 
back,  to  enable  him  to  buy  the  fish.     It  was  also  one 


TOKYO  STREETS.  153 

of  the  fireman's  greatest  pleasures  to  pick  quarrels, 
and  brawls  became  a  necessary  element  of  his  life. 
He  was  also  invariably  tattooed  in  gorgeous  colors, 
the  beauty  of  which  was  his  constant  boast.  As  a 
preliminary  to  a  scuffle,  he  would  slip  his  clothes  off 
his  shoulders  and  make  his  opponent  sick  with  envy 
at  the  sight  of  his  wondrous  tattooed  figures.  .  .  . 
His  favorite  attitude  was  to  sit  awkwardly,  one  heel 
upon  the  other,  with  a  towel  on  his  shoulder." 
Doesn't  this  sound  like  Patsy  at  Donnybrook  fair  ? 

"  If  ye're  in  for  a  row  or  a  raction, 
Just  tread  on  the  tail  of  me  coat!" 

In  these  degenerate  times  the  force  is  under  the 
control  of  the  regular  city  police,  and  indulges  in 
nothing  unseemly,  beyond  an  occasional  spree  at  New 
Year  time.  The  men  used  to  be  much  more  numer- 
ous than  now ;  there  were  sixty-four  companies  in  all, 
forty-eight  for  the  city  side  and  sixteen  across  the 
river,  which  taken  together  comprised  over  ten  thou- 
sand men.  Each  company  had  a  standard  bearing 
its  own  crest,  and  these  the  firemen  still  keep  and 
use  at  certain  times ;  their  fees  and  suits  were  pro- 
vided by  the  ward  to  which  they  belonged. 

When  not  on  duty,  the  firemen  used  to  be  appro- 
priately employed  in  helping  to  build  houses,  by 
working  the  heavy  pile-drivers  with  which  the  foun- 
dation stones  are  rammed  down,  or  taking  the  place 
of  a  steam-crane  in  hoisting  up  roof  timbers.     Often 


154  JAPAN. 

to-day  you  can  hear  the  monotonous  chanting  as  a 
band  of  such  men  pull  and  let  go,  pull  and  let  go, 
over  the  foundations  of  some  new  dwelling.  It  is 
said  that  in  old  times  firemen  were  sometimes  guilty 
of  encouraging  fires,  in  order  that  there  might  be 
more  building  to  do,  and  the  citizens  took  care  to 
keep  them  in  a  good  frame  of  mind  by  frequent  gifts ; 
indeed,  even  the  Daimyo  seem  to  have  been  afraid  to 
interfere  with  them,  if  we  may  believe  the  story  of  a 
fiofht  early  in  the  century,  when  over  three  hundred 
firemen  set  upon  sixty-three  wrestlers  in  the  precincts 
of  a  temple.  The  judge  in  charge  of  the  case  found 
it  so  "difficult  and  inexpedient"  to  decide  against 
either  party  that  he  "  promised  to  give  judgment  after 
fifty  thousand  fine  days!"  l 

Ekoin,  where  the  annual  wrestling  matches  are 
held,  owes  its  origin  to  one  of  the  worst  fires  Tokyo 
has  ever  known.  It  happened  in  the  winter  of  1657, 
and  is  called  "  the  fire  of  the  long-sleeved  robe,"  on 
account  of  the  following  romantic  story  : 

A  young  girl  of  good  family  once  went  cherry- 
viewing  with  her  father  and  mother,  and  as  they 
returned,  a  handsome  youth  passed  them,  in  the  dress 
of  a  temple  page,  wearing  very  long  sleeves.  The 
girl  lost  her  heart  at  the  first  glance;  she  sickened 
and  pined  from  that  day.  To  comfort  her  the  mother 
bought  a  long-sleeved  robe  of  the  same  pattern  the 
page  had  worn ;  but  though  the  daughter  kept  it  by 
1  Inouye,  "  Sketches  of  Tokyo  Life." 


TOKYO  STREETS.  155 

her  and  would  not  let  it  out  of  her  sight,  she  grew  no 
better  and  presently  died.  The  family  brought  the 
dress  as  an  offering  to  their  temple,  and  the  priest 
sold  it  to  a  dealer  in  second-hand  garments.  A  young 
girl  bought  it ;  a  few  months  later  she  died,  and  the 
dress  came  back  to  the  temple  on  her  coffin.  Again 
the  priests  sold  it ;  again  it  was  bought  by  a  young 
girl,  who  died  within  the  year.  By  this  time  the 
priests  were  very  properly  frightened,  and  they  made 
up  a  bonfire  and  threw  in  the  unlucky  robe,  when,  to 
their  horror,  a  gust  of  wind  caught  the  thing  and  bore 
it,  all  flaming,  against  the  side  of  the  temple.  The 
whole  street  caught,  the  fire  leaped  over  the  river  and 
burned  its  way  all  across  the  city,  going  out  only 
when  there  was  nothing  more  to  burn. 

Two  more  fires,  within  a  couple  of  clays  after,  de- 
stroyed the  palace  and  miles  of  houses ;  the  prison 
gates  were  opened,  but  a  warder  closed  one  of  the 
city  gates  against  the  prisoners  and  cut  off  not  only 
these,  but  hundreds  of  citizens,  who  were  caught  by 
the  fire  or  trampled  to  death.  There  were  so  many 
unclaimed  bodies  that  a  special  burying  ground  was 
made  for  them  on  the  far  side  of  the  river,  and  a 
memorial  temple  built,  where  masses  wrere  said  for 
these  unknown  dead ;  hence  its  name,  Ekoin,  temple 
of  mass-reading.  More  than  a  century  later  the 
wrestling  matches  were  moved  here  from  another 
temple — the  same  at  which  the  firemen  and  wrestlers 
had   their  fight — and  there  they  have  been   held  in 


156  JAPAN. 

January  and  May  ever  since.  The  contests  here  de- 
termine a  wrestler's  position  for  the  year,  though  he  goes 
touring  through  the  provinces  all  the  other  months. 

These  wrestlers  are  a  class  quite  by  themselves.  In 
feudal  times  their  position  was  considered  so  import- 
ant as  a  part  of  the  art  of  fighting  that  they  ranked 
next  to  Samurai,  and  were  patronized  by  Daimyo  and 
knights ;  but  since  the  Restoration  their  prestige  is 
much  reduced.  Weight  counts  for  a  great  deal  in 
their  mode  of  wrestling,  and  they  eat  meat  and  other- 
wise endeavor  to  make  themselves  as  large  and  as 
coarse  as  possible.  On  the  street  their  dress  and  way 
of  wearing  their  hair  make  them  look  like  women — 
fat,  repulsive  wenches — towering  head  and  shoulders 
above  all  ordinary  Japanese.  In  the  ring  they  wear 
as  nearly  nothing  as  possible ;  the  umpire,  on  the 
other  hand,  is  arrayed  in  the  kilted  trousers  and  stiff 
sleeves  of  a  knight  in  full  dress,  and  carries  a  war- 
fan,  with  which  he  directs  their  movements.  The  rules 
are  said  to  be  very  exact,  and  of  course  there  must  be 
a  great  deal  of  skill  exercised,  as  well  as  mere  bulk. 

The  workshops  add  much  to  the  liveliness  of 
Japanese  streets,  for  they  are  usually  entirely  open, 
or  screened  at  most  by  a  short  sudare,  or  shade  of 
split  bamboo  (such  as  we  use  in  America  for  porch 
curtains),  or  a  hanging  of  knotted  ropes,  which  does 
not  pretend  to  conceal  anything  whatever.  Carpen- 
ters, joiners,  smiths,  umbrella-makers,  the  old  pot- 
menders,  the  rice-pounders,  lifting  and  dropping  great 


TOKYO  STKEETS.  157 

hammers  on  the  unhulled  rice — they  are  all  there  in 
full  sight  as  you  walk  or  ride  by.  You  may  watch 
the  saw  and  the  plane,  pulled  instead  of  pushed 
(which  works  backward,  we  or  they?),  the  workman 
sitting  or  standing,  the  wood  held  firmly  by  a  flexible 
bare  toe,  that  has  never  known  anything  more  binding 
than  a  cotton  sock. 

Toward  noon  the  eating  houses  are  busy,  and 
kuruma  men  and  coolies  stand  about  them  eating 
queer  morsels  spitted  on  sticks,  or  munching  big, 
smoking  sweet  potatoes  from  one  of  the  bakc-shops 
where  they  cook  these  "  Satsuma  imo"  all  day  long. 
Then  there  are  plenty  of  itinerant  food  dealers,  more 
even  by  night  than  by  day;  one  variety  of  "hoky- 
poky  man"  gets  quite  inside  his  booth,  putting  his 
head  between  the  cross-bars,  and  walks  it  off  down 
the  street  hissing  and  steaming,  apparently  quite  of  its 
own  locomotion. 

One  of  the  most  picturesque  figures  is  the  flower 
peddler,  hanaya,  trotting  along  with  his  portable  shop, 
consisting  of  a  pair  of  bamboo  frames  slung  on  a  cross- 
pole,  which  the  old  fellow  rests  on  his  shoulder,  a 
stand  before  and  a  stand  behind.  They  each  have 
three  or  four  shelves,  where  the  flowers  are  set  in 
little  tubs  or  piled  in  bundles,  and  each  corner  has  a 
bamboo  flower-holder  or  dainty  branch  tied  on  at  ex- 
actly the  right  angle.  Then  there  is  the  vegetable 
man,  his  two  baskets  likewise  slung  on  a  pole  over  his 
shoulder,  and  full  of  roots  and  greens ;   and  the  fish 


158  JAPAN. 

man,  who  carries  sets  of  shallow  wooden  tubs  fitting 
into  each  other  in  layers ;  and  the  bean-curd  man,  and 
the  macaroni  man,  and  a  dozen  others,  not  forgetting 
the  street  sprinkler,  a  ragged  Danae.  bearing  a  couple 
of  perforated  pails.  There  are  a  few  horses,  led,  not 
driven,  in  small  two-wheeled  carts;  a  few  cows  and 
bullocks,  which  wear  a  mat  roof  over  their  backs  for 
rain  or  too  hot  sun.  Almost  everything  comes  to  town 
in  tubs  or  baskets  on  a  pole,  or  in  two-wheeled  carts, 
kuruma,  with  a  man  or  woman  in  the  shafts  and  one 
behind,  heavy  loads,  too,  very  often  ;  Hoo-da,  hoi-da  ! 
Hoo-da,  hoi-da  !  they  call  and  answer  as  they  toil  up 
the  long  hills. 

When  the  sun  goes  down  and  the  roof-outlines  blur 
in  the  faint  mist,  and  the  after-glow  fades  in  the  moat, 
the  rule  is  that  everything  on  wheels  must  carry  a 
light,  and  down  the  long  streets  they  flash  out  one  by 
one,  between  irregular  rows  of  lanterns  bearing  house 
signs,  the  glow  of  Rochester  lamps  in  open  shop 
fronts,  and  here  and  there  soft  squares  of  radiance 
through  some  closed  shoji.  Street  lamps  flash  out 
occasionally,  and  there  are  electric  lights  on  the  Ginza 
and  near  the  stations,  and  at  other  important  points ; 
elsewhere  there  is  darkness  only  accented  by  the  house 
lights,  and  a  bobbing  vista  of  kuruma  lanterns  going 
off  to  pin-points  in  the  distance. 

A  Mr.  Matsubara,  who  lived  among  the  poor  to 
study  their  life,  gives  in  his  "Darkest  Tokyo"  a  vivid 
picture  of  one  of  the  poorest  quarters  at  sunset.     "  A 


TOKYO  STREETS.  159 

crowd  of  people  are  hurrying  home  to  supper,  some 
with  pickaxes,  others  with  lunch  boxes,  others  wear- 
ing clothes  wet  with  sweat,  and  still  others  in  cover- 
ings of  rough  straw,  worn  for  carrying  heavy  and 
dirty  burdens  on  their  shoulders.  They  are  the  labor- 
ing class,  who  have  exchanged  their  labor  of  the  day 
for  copper,  eighteen  sen  each.  Next  comes  a  laborer 
pulling  a  cart ;  with  him  is  his  wife,  who  carries  their 
baby.  Then  come  two  girls  of  about  thirteen  or  four- 
teen years  of  age ;  one  has  a  musical  instrument,  and 
the  other  carries  a  (dancing)  fan  in  her  hand  ;  they  are 
counting  the  money  they  have  earned.  Then  comes 
an  old  man  who  sells  bamboo  tubes  for  tobacco  pipes, 
another  who  mends  shoes  or  sells  candy,  and  still 
another  who  has  been  round  the  city  buying  empty 
bottles  or  picking  up  waste  paper. 

"  On  the  streets  which  lead  into  this  quarter,  fish- 
mongers spread  their  fresh  fish,  grocers  display  on  a 
board  egg-plants,  cucumbers,  potatoes,  or  lotus  roots. 
Others  sell  salted  salmon,  dried  codfish,  cuttlefish, 
mackerel  and  other  kinds  of  fish.  On  the  other  side 
of  the  street  is  a  man  selling  pickles.  He  keeps  in 
his  shop  pickled  radish,  egg-plant  and  plums.  There 
before  a  grog-shop  a  man  is  selling  roasted  meat,  cut- 
tlefish and  popped  corn,  which  scent  the  air.  There 
are  many  others  selling  old  shoes,  old  furniture,  or  old 
clothes,  to  supply  the  needs  of  the  poor."  l 

1  "  Darkest  Tokyo,"  by  Iwaguro  Matsubara.      Translated  in  the 
Japan  Evangelist,  1S94. 


160  JAPAN. 

At  night  the  business  streets  are  more  than  ever 
full ;  summer  and  winter,  the  lower  classes  seem  to  do 
all  their  shopping  after  dark.  This  is  largely  because 
things  are  cheaper  then  than  earlier,  and  then,  too, 
there  is  the  money  from  the  day's  wages  with  which 
to  buy.  One  authority  estimates  the  ratio  of  buying 
among  the  poor  to  be  as  three  is  to  seven  in  favor  of 
the  evening,  "  The  prices  of  vegetables  are  settled  at 
market  about  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning,  but  at  ten 
they  are  worth  twenty  per  cent,  less,  and  about  an  hour 
later  some  sell  at  half-price."  Old  clothes  and  um- 
brellas vary,  he  tells  us,  not  with  the  hour,  but  the 
season  ;  umbrellas  worth  eight  rin  (tenths  of  a  sen)  in 
December  fetch  three  or  four  sen  in  the  spring.  At 
matsuri — festivals — too,  night  is  the  gayest  time ;  the 
chief  street  of  the  ward  is  hung  with  red  and  white 
lanterns,  and  chains  and  arches  of  lights  crossing  from 
side  to  side ;  while  the  roadway  is  lined  with  booths, 
where  the  showman  shouts  himself  hoarse  before  his 
gaudy  curtain,  and  stalls  for  candy  and  flower  hairpins, 
and  all  sorts  of  catchpenny  odds  and  ends ;  and  the 
batter-cake  man  is  there,  and  the  vender  of  toys  and 
charms,  and  all  the  droll  creatures  who  belong  to  fair 
time  everywhere.  The  crowd  is  perfectly  orderly  and 
good-natured,  curious  of  strangers,  but  not  unpleasantly 
obtrusive — and  it  is  certainly  the  best  tubbed  crowd  in 
the  world !  The  light-fingered  gentry  are  there,  though, 
and  they  are  exceedingly  skillful  at  finding  pockets 
and  watches;  they  do  say  a  Tokyo  thief  will  steal  the 


TOKYO  STREETS.  161 

very  geta — clogs — off  a  man's  feet.  This  is  the  way 
it  is  done :  A  pin  on  the  end  of  a  stick  pricks  the 
victim's  instep  ever  so  softly  ;  he  slips  his  toe  from  the 
thong  and  lifts  his  foot  to  rub  it — and  instead  of  his 
good  new  geta  an  old  one  waits  the  returning  toe. 
Repeat  at  a  due  interval,  and  when  somebody  gets 
home  at  night  he  will  be  unpleasantly  surprised. 

Less  elaborate,  but  even  more  fascinating  than  a  full 
matsuri  are  the  en-nichi,  or  flower  fairs,  held  also  at 
night,  and  two  or  three  times  a  month  in  each  quarter 
of  the  city,  on  the  Day  of  the  Bird,  Day  of  the  Mon- 
key, and  so  on.  TowTard  sunset  the  dealers  begin  to 
arrive,  pulling  flat  two-wheeled  carts  loaded  with 
plants,  some  in  pots,  more  having  the  roots  tied  up  in 
straw ;  they  prop  up  the  body  of  the  cart  at  the  side 
of  the  street,  and  set  out  the  plants  on  and  around  it 
in  a  splendid  mass  of  bloom.  Others  spread  mats  be- 
side the  roadway,  or  set  up  booths  as  at  a  festival,  lay- 
ing out  all  manner  of  wares ;  here  a  china  merchant 
sits  on  the  ground  among  his  bowls  and  tea-pots ; 
there  is  a  basket  maker,  or  a  second-hand  dealer  dis- 
playing tastefully  a  few  old  candlesticks  and  platters 
and  books  and  imitation  bronzes  ;  sometimes,  but  very, 
very  rarely,  some  bit  of  real  value.  As  it  grows  dark, 
tins  of  kerosene,  mounted  on  pointed  sticks  thrust  into 
the  ground,  flare  wildly  among  the  flowers ;  a  dense 
crowd  gathers,  walking  up  and  down,  admiring,  criti- 
cising, bargaining  ;  three  or  four  times  the  real  price  is 
asked,  then  a  few  sen — cents — paid  at  last  for  a  budding 
Vol.  L— 11 


162  JAPAN. 

plum  tree,  or  a  chrysanthemum  all  over  snowy  balls, 
fit  for  a  prize  show  in  America.  Sometimes  dwarf 
trees  are  most  in  evidence,  pine,  maple,  quince,  or 
plums,  white  and  red,  which  planted  together  signify 
the  Gen-pei,  the  War  of  the  Reds  and  Whites;  or 
there  are  great  satin-petaled  peonies,  or  azaleas,  ca- 
melias,  magnolias,  dwarf  Wistaria  vines,  purple  or 
white.  All  through  the  year  there  is  a  succession,  from 
the  first  yellow  ranunculus,  the  New  Year  "  Flower 
of  Happiness,"  round  to  the  autumn  nanten  berries 
which  foreigners  substitute  for  holly  at  Christmas 
time.  It  is  a  graceful  thing,  this  nanten,  "  heavenly 
bamboo,"  as  the  name  means;  it  grows  into  a  tall 
shrub,  with  slender  branches  and  racemes  of  scarlet 
berries,  and  dark,  glossy  pinnate  leaves  that  do  look 
very  like  bamboo.  It  is  hardy  all  around  Tokyo,  and 
it  seems  strange  that  such  a  pretty  thing  should  not  be 
well  known  abroad. 

Before  we  leave  the  city,  here  is  a  quaint  bit  of  old 
Yedo,  the  tale  of  "  The  Knightly  Waste-paper  Man." 

This  person — I  follow  Dening's  translation — was  a 
Samurai  Avho,  for  some  oifence,  had  been  forced  to 
leave  his  lord's  service  and  escape  from  the  province. 
Reaching  Yedo  quite  destitute  and  surpassingly  ignor- 
ant of  the  world,  he  and  his  young  wife  would  have 
fared  badly,  but  for  a  wandering  knight  who  saved 
them  from  robbers  on  the  road  and  put  them  in  charge 
of  a  kind-hearted  tradesman,  named  Chohachi. 

After  a  polite  interval,  Chohachi  goes  to  the  Samu- 


TOKYO  STREETS.  163 

rai  and  gently  inquires  what  can  be  done  to  make  the 
pot  boil ;  how  would  he  like  to  start  a  fencing  school? 
Shindo  is  very  sorry,  but,  like  too  many  knights  in 
those  degenerate  days,  he  has  lived  a  life  of  ease,  and 
has  little  skill  as  a  swordsman.  Well,  then,  he  might 
teach  writing — favorite  resource  of  knighthood  out  at 
elbows.  Alas !  that  will  not  do  either ;  our  young 
gentleman  confesses  himself  a  hopelessly  poor  writer. 
Narahodo  !  What  ever  can  this  graceful,  charming 
piece  of  incompetence  be  set  to  do?  Clearly  it  must 
be  something  of  the  simplest ;  and  after  much  thought 
the  trader  provides  the  knight  with  a  couple  of  light 
baskets  on  a  pole,  and  a  pair  of  long  bamboo  chop- 
sticks, renames  him  Chobei  (Shindo  is  quite  too  fine 
an  appellation  for  such  a  business)  and  sends  him  out 
to  buy  up  old  paper. 

On  the  first  day  poor  Shindo-Chobei  stole  through 
the  streets,  meditating  on  the  fleeting  nature  of  pros- 
perity, till  he  got  entirely  lost  and  had  to  pay  a  man 
to  take  him  home.  Chohachi  laughed  and  scolded, 
and  told  him  he  must  learn  to  call  out  what  he  wanted, 
or  how  was  anybody  to  know  ?  So,  to  get  used  to  the 
sound  of  his  own  voice,  out  went  Chobei  to  an  open 
space,  where  there  were  no  houses  in  sight,  and  cried 
"Old  paper "  to  the  four  winds,  till  the  street  gamins 
pelted  him  for  a  madman. 

Swallowing  his  laughter,  Chohachi  patiently  ex- 
plains and  exhorts  once  more.  "  Try  the  little  back 
streets  ;  fine  people  don't  sell  waste  paper !     Gossip  a 


104  JAPAN. 

bit  with  the  old  women  and  put  them  in  a  good  humor, 
and  then  say,  as  you  go  off,  *  I  suppose  you  haven't  any 
old  paper  to-day  ? '  Go  every  day  and  get  them  to 
know  you  ;  that's  the  way." 

So  once  more  off  went  Chobei,  this  time  down  the 
lane,  where  women  scrubbed  and  children  played  in 
the  dust  and  bent  old  crones  chopped  daikon  on  the 
doorsteps,  just  the  way  they  do  now.  One  and  all 
Chobei  greeted  them  most  politely  in  the  only  language 
he  knew : 

"  Good  morning,  madam  !  An  augustly  beautiful 
morning!  I  trust  you  and  your  honorable  family 
enjoy  good  health.  This  is  the  first  time  I  had  the 
honor — I  am  one  Chobei,  from  such  a  street,  and  I 
beg  the  favor  of  your  acquaintance.  Got  any  old 
paper  ?  " 

Of  all  this  courtly  discourse,  the  good  dames  took 
in  only  the  last  sentence ;  but,  on  the  whole,  they 
were  rather  tickled  by  so  much  elegance,  and  though 
they  thought  him  rather  mad,  "  the  Knightly  Paper 
Man  "  became  quite  an  institution  and  did  a  thriving 
trade ;  so  that  under  Chohachi's  careful  management 
he  kept  his  wife  and  little  daughter  very  well. 

In  the  rest  of  the  tale,  to  Western  ears,  the  morality 
seems  strangely  mixed.  One  day  Chobei  found  an 
old  friend  begging  on  the  street ;  it  was  the  knight 
who  had  helped  him  to  escape  from  his  province,  and 
who  had  now  been  banished  by  his  lord  on  an  unjust 
charge,  and  was  living  in  dire  poverty.     Chobei  and 


TOKYO  STREETS.  1C5 

his  wife  decided  that  honor  required  them  to  make  a 
suitable  present;  but  twenty-five  gold  rio  was  the 
least  that  could  be  thought  of,  and  the  only  way  to 
get  such  a  sum  was  to  sell  their  only  daughter.  This, 
with  many  tears,  they  proceeded  to  do,  and  Chobei 
went  off  with  the  money  to  his  friend,  Bun-yemon. 
The  friend,  however,  utterly  refused  to  accept  such  a 
gift,  and  when  it  was  pressed  became  very  angry ; 
still,  Chobei  managed  to  slip  the  packet  into  a  tobacco- 
box  and  went  home. 

When  Bun-yemon  found  the  money  had  been  left 
in  spite  of  him,  he  scolded  his  wife  roundly  for  not 
watching  better ;  but,  as  they  had  no  idea  where 
Chobei  lived,  she  urged  her  husband  to  take  it  as  a 
loan  and  redeem  a  valuable  sword  which  he  had 
pawned ;  he  could  then  sell  the  sword  for  a  much 
larger  sum,  and  pay  the  twenty-five  rio  back  as  soon 
as  he  found  Chobei.  This  Bun-yemon  finally  con- 
sented to  do ;  but  unluckily  the  pawnbroker's  clerk, 
balked  of  the  sword,  which  he  had  fully  expected  to 
get  possession  of,  accused  Buu-yemon  of  stealing  a 
hundred  rio  from  his  master.  Bun-yemon  was 
arrested,  and  his  wife  confined  to  her  house  and 
closely  watched. 

Now  Yedo,  under  the  Tokugawa,  was  governed  by 
a  Machi-Bugyo,  or  City  Minister,  who  was  also  the 
supreme  judge,  and  had  under  him  twenty-five  officers 
for  the  different  departments  of  the  service ;  and  these 
again  directed  a  hundred  and  fifty  lesser  officials.     At 


1G6  JAPAN. 

the  time  of  our  story  the  Machi-Bugyo  was  the  Lord 
of  Echizen,  who  was,  and  indeed  still  is,  considered 
the  greatest  judge  Japan  ever  knew.  To  him  Bun- 
yemon's  wife  determined  to  appeal.  A  fire  in  the 
neighborhood  gave  her  a  chance  to  escape,  and  finding 
the  Machi-Bugyo  on  horseback,  overlooking  the  fire- 
men, she  caught  his  rein  and  told  her  tale.  The 
details  of  the  case  are  too  complex  to  follow,  but  the 
Lord  of  Echizen  was  judge,  lawyer  and  detective,  all 
in  one,  and  by  a  series  of  clever  manoeuvres  he  sifted 
out  the  truth  and  got  the  guilty  clerk's  confession. 
Dening  quotes  the  sentence,  which,  as  he  says,  is  "a 
curiosity  from  a  modern  point  of  view." 

The  guilty  clerk  was  put  to  death.  Besides  his  plot 
against  Bun-yemon,  he  had  robbed  his  master  and 
killed  the  master's  son.  The  pawnbroker  was  fined  a 
hundred  rio,  on  the  principle  which  prevails  every- 
where in  the  East  that  the  master  is  to  be  held  largely 
responsible  for  the  man.  These  gold  pieces  were 
given  to  Bun-yemon,  with  the  order  to  use  twenty-five 
in  redeeming  Chobei's  daughter.  As  for  Chobei,  he 
was  praised  for  sacrificing  his  child  to  serve  his  bene- 
factor, and  the  daughter  for  obeying  her  parents,  and 
both  received  small  rewards.  The  money  for  this  last 
came  out  of  fines  paid  by  the  clerk's  accomplices ; 
altogether  a  very  pretty  game  of  virtue  rewarded  and 
vice  punished,  according  to  Eastern  notions  of  vice 
and  virtue. 

To  complete   the  general   happiness,  Bun-yemon's 


TOKYO  STREETS.  1(37 

lord  restored  him  to  office,  and  Hanskiro,  the  errant 
knight  who  helped  Chobei  when  he  first  came  to  Yedo, 
so  pleased  the  Shogun  that  he  made  him  a  Hatamoto 
(retainer  of  the  Tokugawa),  with  a  revenue  of  five 
hundred  koku. 


CHAPTER   XII. 

A   JAPANESE   HOUSEHOLD. 

"  When  I  am  gone  away, 
Masterless  my  dwelling 
Though  it  appear, 
O  plum-tree  by  the  eaves 
Forget  not  thou  the  spring." 

— Trans.  Aston. 

"  Bind  the  rushes  together,  and  lo,  a  house  wherein 
man  may  dwell ;  scatter  them,  and  they  are  once  more 
but  a  part  of  the  reedy  waste." 

I  do  not  remember  who  he  was,  the  Japanese  sage 
who  thus  tried  to  express  his  conception  of  the  human 
soul  and  its  relation  to  the  groat  All,  and  indeed  I  fear 
the  saying  has  stayed  by  me,  not  for  any  half-compre- 
hension of  the  pantheistic  philosophy,  but  for  the  sake 
of  the  picture  it  evokes — the  memory  of  wide  moors, 
clothed  to  the  edge  of  the  horizon  with  tall,  waving 
suzuki  grass  ;  and  of  some  group  of  low  huts  clinging 
to  the  fringe  of  the  waste,  mere  shells  of  mud  daubed 
about  the  woven  reeds. 

Such  a  shelter,  most  probably,  was  the  primitive 
Japanese  house,  modified  and  improved  a  little,  it  is 
true,  by  memories  of  Malay  campongs  raised  on  piles, 

168 


A  JAPANESE  HOUSEHOLD.  169 

in  that  far  south  from  which  the  divine  ancestors 
came.  The  after  changes,  one  and  all,  have  been  dic- 
tated by  necessity  of  material  or  of  climate,  as  must 
always  be  the  case  with  a  really  vital  architecture. 

For  after  all,  when  everything  has  been  said,  a 
Japanese  house  is  the  fittest  thing  for  Japan.  Every- 
body knows  them  by  this  time  from  the  specimens  at 
world's  fairs  and  Japanese  villages — the  low  roofs  pro- 
jecting over  narrow  porches,  the  straw  mats  on  the 
floors,  and  movable,  half  transparent  Avails — pictur- 
esque affairs  of  wood  and  paper,  so  slight  and  small 
that  nobody  in  America  can  take  them  seriously,  or 
quite  believe  that  the  real,  lived-in  thing  is  just  like 
this.  If  people  actually  do  live  in  such  toy  things — 
why  then  the  Westerner  concludes  that  the  whole  of 
Japan  must  be  a  toy  land,  a  huge  joke  altogether. 

Certainly  a  Japanese  house  is  quite  different  from  all 
our  ideas  of  what  constitutes  a  dwelling.  Western  archi- 
tecture thinks  of  a  house  as  four  walls  roofed  over  and 
pierced  with  openings  for  light  and  entrance  ;  in  Japan 
the  conception  is  simply  a  roof  on  supports,  filled  in  with 
walls  or  not,  just  as  you  wish,  for  the  walls  are  a  mere 
matter  of  convenience,  and  not  structurally  necessary 
in  the  least.  One  realizes  this  best  after  watching 
Japanese  carpenters  building,  for  they  go  at  it  almost 
roof  first,  and  apply  walls  and  openings  afterward, 
according  to  requirement,  very  much  as  Americans 
build  a  modern  fireproof  sky-scraper. 

The  first  step  of  all  is  to  level  the  ground  carefully, 


170  JAPAN. 

not  digging  it  out,  for  there  is  to  be  no  cellar.  Then 
where  the  supports  are  to  rest  they  set  a  foundation  of 
round  stones,  pounding  them  in  solidly  with  heavy 
hammers  like  pile-drivers,  so  that  they  shall  not  wash 
or  give.  No  part  of  the  building  is  set  into  the  ground ; 
each  of  the  uprights  rests  on  one  of  the  large  round 
stones,  being  hollowed  out  a  little  on  the  under  side, 
so  as  to  fit  over  the  stone  like  a  shallow  socket.  When 
this  foundation  is  ready,  the  horizontal  beams  of  the 
roof  are  laid  foursquare  on  the  ground,  the  uprights 
of  the  gable,  the  ridgepole  and  rafters,  are  all  placed 
and  made  fast,  and  the  whole  roof-frame  raised  by 
many  hands  and  with  much  chanting,  till  the  props 
can  be  slipped  under  in  their  right  places.  These 
supports  are  then  braced  with  cross-beams,  and  it  re- 
mains only  to  thatch  or  tile  the  roof,  and  fill  in  an  end 
wall  or  two,  and  the  thing  is  done.  No,  not  quite;  the 
wooden  outside  shutters  count  as  part  of  the  house, 
although  the  inside  screens,  which  serve  as  partitions, 
are  generally  counted  furnishings.  The  whole  building 
is  simply  a  strong  elastic  frame,  which  rocks  together 
like  a  ship  when  the  ground  heaves,  or  even  slips  a 
little  on  the  foundation  stones,  while  the  heavy  roof 
keeps  it  from  jumping  about  to  a  dangerous  extent. 
So  long  as  the  timbers  have  not  rotted,  such  a  house 
can  stand  even  a  severe  earthquake  without  damage 
beyond  shedding  off  a  shower  of  tiles  —  which  last 
it  is  pretty  sure  to  do,  because  these  heavy  tiles  are 
not  fastened  in  any  way,  but  simply  laid  in  a  bed  of 


A  JAPANESE  HOUSEHOLD.  171 

sticky  mud,  and  a  prolonged   shake  is  sure  to  send 
them  flying. 

Even  the  tiled  houses  keep  a  memory  of  the  primi- 
tive thatch  in  the  prominent  ridgepole,  which  is  often 
made  of  white  tiles  instead  of  black,  apparently  for  a 
purely  decorative  purpose ;  and  in  the  backward  slant 
of  the  gable  ends,  which  makes  the  roof  slope  four 
ways,  like  the  little  reed  shelters. 

A  typical  Japanese  house  is  oblong,  and  more  often 
one  story  high  than  two.  The  entrance  is  at  the  side, 
and  not  in  the  middle  of  the  side  either,  but  near  one 
end ;  there  is  a  little  vestibule,  a  space  of  bare  earth, 
closed  usually  on  the  outside  by  a  slatted  sliding  door, 
and  here  you  drop  your  shoes  before  stepping  into  the 
house  proper,  the  floor  of  which  is  a  foot  or  two  higher. 
Most  often  it  is  the  gable  ends  of  the  house  which  are 
filled  in  with  lath  and  plaster,  while  along  the  sides 
run  narrow  balconies,  called  roka,  floored  with  bare 
polished  boards.  Within  these  are  the  rooms  proper, 
their  floors  completely  covered  with  the  tatami  or 
thick,  soft  mats,  Avhich  are  about  as  springy  as  a  gym- 
nasium mattress,  and  serve  for  chairs,  tables,  in  a  word, 
all  the  furniture  of  the  house. 

The  rooms  near  the  door  are  least  honorable ;  the 
guest  room  is  farthest  back,  or  in  an  "upper  chamber," 
opening  always  on  a  garden,  if  it  be  only  a  few  feet 
square.  Passing  through  into  such  a  guest  room  or 
zashiki,  you  find  yourself  in  an  oblong  apartment, 
having  at  one  end  a  kind  of  alcove  in  a  plastered  wall, 


172  JAPAN. 

two  sides  closed  by  sliding  screens  of  thick  paper, 
painted  or  stamped  with  some  delicate  design,  and  a 
third  side  open  most  of  the  day  to  the  balcony  and 
the  garden.  The  floor  of  the  rooms  is  sunk  a  little, 
so  that  the  surface  of  the  mats  is  just  level  with  the 
sill  of  the  balcony.  In  this  sill,  and  in  the  beam  di- 
rectly above  it,  there  are  double  grooves,  and  in  these 
slide  the  screens  or  shoji,  each  panel  six  feet  high  and 
three  wide,  made  of  the  lightest  possible  framework, 
so  light  that  it  can  be  lifted  and  taken  out  at  a  mo- 
ment's notice.  Like  grooves  run  between  the  rooms 
for  the  fusuma  or  thick  paper  screens,  which  take  the 
place  of  partitions,  and  the  fusuma,  too,  can  be  lifted 
out  easily,  throwing  the  whole  house,  if  you  like,  into 
one  large  room.  The  shoji — screens  next  the  balcony — 
being  intended  to  let  in  light,  are  covered  with  what 
we  should  call  tissue  paper ;  it  is  a  good  deal  tougher 
than  ours,  but  tears  quite  easily,  and  has  to  be  fre- 
quently replaced ;  and  meanwhile  the  neat  housewife 
mends  torn  places  with  decorative  strips  or  stars  of  the 
same  thin  paper,  called  hanshi.  Hearn,  in  "  Shadow- 
ings,"  quotes  a  pathetic  little  poem,  supposed  to  be 
written  by  a  mother  who  has  just  lost  her  child  : 

"  Mi  ni  shimiru 

Kaze  ya ! 

Shoji  ni 

Yubi  no  ato." 

"  Oh,  body-piercing  wind  !      That   work  of  little 
fingers  in  the  shoji !" 


A   JAPANESE  HOUSEHOLD.  173 

At  night,  or  when  the  house  is  to  be  closed,  the 
wooden  storm-shutters  (ama-do)  are  pushed  out  along 
their  grooves  at  the  outer  edge  of  the  balcony ;  when 
the  last  is  in  place  a  bolt  is  put  up,  and  everything  is  as 
secure  as  an  eighth  of  an  inch  of  pine  plank  can  make 
it.  Don't  fancy  there  is  an  earthquake  at  day-dawn  ; 
it  is  only  the  maid  rolling  back  the  shutters  to  their 
niche  at  the  end  of  the  roka  ;  and  till  she  does  there  is 
all  but  no  light.  That  is  the  weakest  point  of  a 
Japanese  house;  it  has  no  windows,  and  at  night  you 
are  shut  up  in  a  box — though  luckily  not  a  very  tight 
one. 

Occasionally  an  upstairs  room  does  have  a  window, 
and  if  so  it  is  usually  worked  in  some  decorative  way 
into  the  space  beside  the  tokonoma,  or  ornamental 
alcove  at  the  end.  This  tokonoma  is  said  to  be  the 
raised  seat  where  the  Emperor  would  sit  if  he  made  a 
visit — at  least,  that  is  one  explanation  often  given  of  a 
thing  nobody  quite  understands.  Others  say  the 
tokonoma  represents  a  primitive  raised  platform  to 
sleep  on,  such  as  the  Ainu  sometimes  have  in  their 
houses ;  if  so,  it  has  certainly  shrunk.  It  is  a  shallow 
niche,  lined  with  wood,  its  wooden  floor  raised  a  foot  or 
more  above  the  rest  of  the  room  ;  'the  lining  and  floor 
and  the  upright  beam  or  post  beside  it  are  the  finest 
timber  the  house  can  afford ;  the  post  is  often  a 
trunk  barked  and  polished,  with  all  the  marks  of  the 
limbs  left  in  place — suggesting  the  post  of  the  bed  in 
his  fair  palace  which  Ulysses  described  with  so  much 


174  JAPAN. 

pride.  The  place  just  in  front  of  the  tokonoma  is  the 
most  honorable  seat,  the  place  offered  to  the  chief 
guest — and  to  be  accepted,  of  course,  only  after  due 
pressing.  All  the  woodwork  of  the  tokonoma,  and  in 
the  rest  of  the  house,  is  untouched  by  paint,  and 
exquisitely  polished  by  sheer  rubbing ;  the  ceiling  of 
a  well-built  room  is  beautifully  grained,  the  markings 
perfectly  matched  together.  They  do  not  waste  thick 
boards  on  these  ceilings,  but  use  pieces  almost  as  thin 
as  paper,  tacking  them  clown  to  the  rafters  on  their 
upper  side. 

The  tatami  or  mats  are  each  three  feet  wide  and  six 
feet  long  and  about  two  inches  thick,  each  piece  bound 
at  the  end  with  black  cotton  cloth  ;  all  rooms  are  made 
in  proportions  to  fit  them,  as  an  eight-mat,  ten-mat, 
twelve  or  four-and-a-half  mat  room.  When  the  mats 
are  laid,  covering  the  entire  floor,  and  the  shoji  and 
fusuma  are  in  place,  the  house  is  felt  to  be  furnished ; 
the  rest  is  luxury  or  ornament.  There  may  be  a  few 
low  chests  of  drawers,  a  writing  stand  ten  inches  high,  a 
hibachi  (box  for  coals),  and  some  thin,  square  cushions 
to  sit  on  ;  in  the  tokonoma  one  flower  vase,  one  kake- 
mono or  hanging  scroll ;  no  more. 

It  is  bare,  assuredly,  and  not  at  all  comfortable  to 
European  muscles;  but  to  the  eyes,  perfectly  restful, 
perfectly  harmonious.  The  proportions  are  always  in 
multiples  of  three,  the  color  low-toned,  delicate,  leaving 
all  accent  to  the  flower  and  kakemono,  which  are  to  be 
enjoyed  without  distraction — and  changed,  by  the  way, 


A  JAPANESE  HOUSEHOLD.  175 

as  the  mood  or  the  season  changes.  The  scheme  has 
certain  positive  advantages  over  the  fatiguing  com- 
plexity of  Western  life. 

The  rest  of  the  needfuls  of  a  house  are  few ;  there 
must  be  a  shichi-rin,  or  stovelet  for  cooking — one  is 
almost  forced  to  use  Japanese  words  where  there  is  no 
English  equivalent — the  hibachi  being  only  for  warmth, 
or  merely  to  boil  a  kettle,  on  a  little  iron  stand  set 
among  the  ashes.  They  say  the  shichi-rin,  "seven  riii," 
gets  its  name  because  it  burns  only  seven-tenths  of  a 
sen's  worth  of  charcoal ;  one  sen — worth  half-a-ceut — 
being  till  lately  a  day's  allowance  for  one  fire.  Then 
there  must  be  quilts  to  sleep  on,  and  pillows,  which 
really  are  small  blocks  of  wood  with  a  little  cushion 
atop,  or  else  a  bag  of  buckwheat  chaff — this  last  is  not 
at  all  bad  either ;  men  use  it  because  nowadays  they 
have  no  elaborate  hair-dressing  to  save,  as  the  women 
have.  All  this  bedding  is  rolled  up  by  day  and 
kept  in  deep  closets,  closed  like  the  rooms  by  sliding 
thick  paper  screens.  Dishes  there  are,  of  course,  and 
trays  on  which  to  serve  them  ;  basins,  tubs,  hot- water 
cans  in  the  bath-room,  and  pots  and  cooking  utensils 
generally. 

The  kitchen  is  worth  looking  at,  especially  in  some 
fine  old  house  in  the  country.  A  considerable  part  of 
it  is  usually  lower,  and  floored  with  beaten  earth,  like 
the  vestibule,  and  there  tubs  of  water  stand  and  rough 
work  is  done ;  the  rest  is  raised  and  matted  with  ta- 
tami,  while  in  the  middle  a  square  pit  filled  with  peb- 


176  JAPAN. 

bles  and  ashes  serves  for  hearth.  A  kettle  hangs  over 
it  by  a  chain,  and  around  the  pile  of  coals  they  broil 
small  fish,  leaning  them  against  iron  spits  thrust  into 
the  ashes  ;  this  is  the  crisp  brown  sJiioyaki,  which  even 
foreigners  can  enjoy  without  reserve.  An  opening  in 
the  roof — a  sort  of  little  window,  directly  over  the 
hearth — does  duty  for  chimney,  and  carries  off  at  least 
part  of  the  charcoal  fumes.  These  open  fires  are  won- 
derfully little  unpleasant;  of  course,  the  secret  is  that 
all  the  house  is  open  through  the  day,  and  at  night  the 
fire-box  is  carefully  taken  out  of  the  sleeping  room, 
besides  having  the  coals  well  buried  in  the  ashes,  for 
fear  of  sparks  as  much  as  gas.  Still,  every  now  and 
then  the  papers  tell  of  some  tragedy  caused  by  a  shut 
room  and  a  burning  hibachi. 

After  living  with  these  open  brasiers  for  awhile,  one 
begins  to  realize  what  the  "  purity  "  of  the  hearth  fire 
meant  to  the  ancients  on  our  own  side  of  the  globe;  for 
in  Japan,  as  well  as  in  Greece  or  Rome,  it  is  the  height 
of  impropriety  to  throw  anything  impure  into  the  fire- 
place, even  a  match-stick,  lor  that  would  burn  with  a 
smoke,  or  lie  unconsumed  among  the  clean  white  ashes. 
With  the  hibashi,  "  fire-sticks"  or  tongs,  there  is  a  neat 
little  brass  scraper,  a  thing  half  way  between  a  shovel 
and  a  comb ;  and  this  is  used  to  rake  the  ashes  into 
four  even  furrowed  slopes,  from  the  fire  to  the  sides 
of  the  hibachi. 

Occasionally  a  storehouse  is  turned  into  a  dwelling — 
one  of  those  kura  or  go-downs,  with  immensely  thick; 


A  JAPANESE  HOUSEHOLD.  177 

white  plastered  walls,  which  are  so  striking  a  feature 
of  all  Japanese  cities.  To  tell  the  truth,  they  are 
pleasauter  when  converted  into  a  "foreign"  than  a 
Japanese  home,  for  the  small  windows  do  not  suit  a 
life  without  stoves.  On  the  other  hand,  they  are  far 
better  than  an  ordinary  Japanese  house  for  our  way  of 
living ;  the  fact  is  I  can't  myself  conceive  of  anything 
much  more  thoroughly  uncomfortable  than  a  house  of 
paper  walls  filled  with  European  furniture — and  worst 
of  all,  rocking-chairs !  The  missionary  women  who 
struggle  to  make  a  home-like  place  out  of  one  of  these 
houses,  curtaining  yards  of  glass  storm-shutters,  endur- 
ing tables  that  wobble  on  the  soft  mats,  and  wrestling 
with  those  rockers  that  are  continually  poking  through 
the  fusunia  into  the  next  room —  well,  they  surely  have 
their  reward  somewhere.  There  is  just  one  kind  of 
purely  Japanese  house  that  lends  itself  well  to  doors 
and  windows,  and  that  is  the  tile  and  plaster  form  so 
much  used  in  the  Yedo  yashiki,  but  now  little  seen ; 
in  general  principles  it  is  like  the  other  houses,  but  the 
wTalls  are  filled  in  with  tiles  set  on  edge  in  a  thick  body 
of  plaster,  the  black  edges  making  slightly  raised  dia- 
monds in  the  white  surface,  and  the  effect  is  very  deco- 
rative. There  are  long  blocks  of  such  walls  in  Tokyo 
still,  remnants  of  feudal  days,  but  in  a  few  years  they 
will  probably  all  disappear. 

Private  houses  generally  turn  a  blank  side  to  the 
street,  or  at  most  a  graceful  oriel  window  screened  by 
a  wooden  grill.     When  there  is  space  to  spare,  the 
Vol.  I.— 12 


178  JAPAN. 

dwellings  hide  behind  walls  or  bamboo  fences  or 
hedges — those  high  green  hedges  which  are  the  charm 
of  Tokyo  lanes,  showing  only  a  line  of  roof,  or  through 
an  open  gate  a  peep  of  shrubbery  and  a  gray  rock  or 
two.  Raising  flowers  is  no  part  of  the  duty  of  a 
Japanese  garden;  a  tree  there  should  be,  a  stone 
lantern  and  some  rocks,  a  little  lake,  a  little  hill ;  and 
the  arrangement  of  it  all  has  an  artistic  symbolism 
which  everybody  understands.  If  the  space  be  but  a 
few  feet,  then  the  tree  must  be  dwarfed,  the  hill  be- 
comes a  mossy  stone  beside  a  goldfish  basin  ;  or  tinier 
yet,  at  the  tabi-maker's  or  the  charcoal-seller's  door 
you  may  see  it  all  in  a  shallow  flower-pot — an  eight- 
inch  pine  tree,  toy  lanterns,  toy  bridges,  or  a  green 
china  frog  by  a  pond  as  big  as  a  saucer.  On  the 
other  hand,  where  space  allows,  there  is  no  dwarfing 
at  all,  and  trees  and  shrubs  are  cleverly  disposed  to 
keep  out  prying  eyes,  for  no  Englishman  has  a  greater 
horror  of  being  overlooked  than  an  upper-class  Japan- 
ese, or  a  more  thorough  conviction  that  his  house  is  his 
own. 

His  own ;  that  is  to  say,  his  as  the  head  of  the 
family.  After  all,  this  is  the  most  radical  difference 
between  Eastern  and  Western  life,  that  in  the  West  the 
individual  is  the  unit,  in  the  East  the  family.  That 
is  why  people  say  the  Japanese  do  not  know  what  pri- 
vacy means ;  the  truth  is,  they  both  do  and  do  not — 
they  have  certain  reserves  which  would  never  occur  to 
an  Anglo-Saxon,  and  they  are  perfectly  open  and  out- 


A  JAPANESE  HOUSEHOLD.  179 

spoken  about  many  things  which  the  West  thinks  good 
to  conceal.  That  is  the  point  of  view.  But  family 
life  in  Japan  is  something  absolutely  sacred,  something 
no  outsider  may  so  much  as  look  into ;  it  is  not  con- 
sidered good  form  even  to  speak  of  such  matters.  On 
the  other  hand,  once  within  the  household,  there  are  no 
reserves  at  all ;  there  hardly  could  be  in  a  paper 
house ;  nor  is  there  need  when  all  feel  themselves  but 
parts  of  a  whole. 

For  it  is  necessary  to  remember  that  when  a  young 
man  marries  he  does  not  merely  take  a  wife  to  suit 
himself  and  her  alone ;  he  brings  home  a  daughter  to 
his  parents.  There  will  be  in  the  household  his  father 
and  mother,  perhaps  a  grandfather,  very  likely  young 
unmarried  brothers  and  sisters,  or  a  brother's  widow, 
or  perhaps  his  own  widowed  sister  come  back  to  her 
own  people.  It  will  be  his  duty  as  future  head  of  the 
house  wisely  to  direct  all  its  affairs,  to  look  after  all 
its  helpless  members,  to  defer  in  all  things  to  his 
parents,  and  to  decide  nothing  of  general  interest  with- 
out a  family  conclave.  The  young  wife,  on  her  part, 
will  have  the  brunt  of  the  housekeeping,  and  besides 
doing  her  best  to  please  her  husband,  she  must  in  all 
things  be  useful  to  his  parents.  How  many  American 
girls  would  get  through  the  first  month  of  such  a  life? 

In  truth  it  is  not  too  easy  for  a  Japanese  girl.  As 
the  saying  goes,  "  Mother-in-law  and  young  wife  living 
together  in  peace  is  one  of  the  seven  wonders,"  and 
the  crowded  households  are  at  least  partly  responsible 


180  JAPAN. 

for  the  high  rate  of  divorce,  which  is  said  to  be  one- 
third  of  all  marriages  Confucian  ethics  allowed  seven 
reasons  for  which  a  man  might  return  his  wife  to  her 
parents — send  her  back,  as  it  were,  like  a  piece  of 
goods  taken  on  approbation.  The  seven  are  disobedi- 
ence to  her  husband's  parents,  not  having  a  son,  un- 
faithfulness, jealousy,  contagious  disease,  talkativeness 
and  thieving.  But  "  if  while  she  was  taken  from  a 
home,  she  has  now  no  home  to  return  to,  if  she  has 
passed  with  her  husband  through  three  years'  mourn- 
ing for  his  parents,  or  if  her  husband  has  become  rich 
from  being  poor,"  then  he  may  not  divorce  her.  (S. 
Motoda,  in  "  The  Far  East."  ) 

Another  circumstance  Confucianism  requires  a  wife 
to  accept  patiently,  if  her  husband  demands  it,  and 
that  is  the  presence  of  another  in  the  household.  On 
this  question  Ave  shall  perhaps  best  understand  the 
Japanese  way  of  thinking  by  remembering  the  customs 
of  the  Hebrew  patriarchs  ;  for  a  Japanese  mekake  stands 
to  the  true  wife  almost  precisely  as  Hagar  stood  to 
Sarah.  Like  Hagar,  the  mekake  is  regarded  as  a 
"  handmaid ; "  she  is  always  of  inferior  rank,  and  in 
every  way  subject  to  the  wife.  The  training  of  her 
children  is  not  in  her  hand*,  but  in  those  of  the  true 
wife,  who  alone  is  mistress  of  the  house.  Under  feud- 
alism the  number  of  mekake  a  man  might  keep  was 
limited  by  his  station,  which  prescribed  his  retinue 
and  the  kind  of  establishment  he  was  entitled  to :  a 
prince  had  four  or  five,  and  the  Emperor  himself  was 


A  JAPANESE  HOUSEHOLD.  181 

permitted  twelve.  On  the  other  hand  dissipation  was 
denounced  :  "  He  alone  can  rule  his  family  who  ruleth 
himself;  and  he  alone  can  rule  a  nation,  whose  family 
is  in  right  order."  Sometimes  the  Karo  or  chief  re- 
tainer was  called  upon  to  protest  against  the  conduct 
of  his  lord ;  if  the  rebuke  was  accepted,  well ;  if  not, 
the  Samurai  took  his  own  life.  It  is  recorded  of  one 
Daimyo  that  he  went  aside  on  an  expedition  to  visit 
one  of  his  ladies  in  waiting,  and  remained  drinking 
and  carousing  long  past  the  time  that  he  should  have 
left.  In  this  difficulty,  two  of  the  knights  killed 
themselves  at  his  door,  and  thus  recalled  their  master 
to  his  duty. 

Uchimura,  in  "Japan  and  the  Japanese,"  cites 
Yozan,  lord  of  Yonezawa,  as  an  example  of  right  feel- 
ing. "  The  lady  to  whom  he  was  wedded  in  her  min- 
ority by  his  parents,  according  to  the  then  custom  of 
the  land,  proved  to  be  a  born  imbecile,  and  her  intel- 
lect was  never  above  that  of  a  child  of  ten  years  of 
age.  Her,  however,  he  treated  with  genuine  love  and 
respect,  made  for  her  toys  and  dolls,  and  comforted 
her  in  all  ways,  and  for  the  twenty  years  of  their 
wedded  life  he  never  showed  the  least  dissatisfaction 
with  his  fate.  His  other  consort  (at  a  time  when  no 
one  questioned  the  right  of  concubinage,  and  all  other 
Daimyo  had  four  or  five,  he  had  but  one)  was  left  in 
Yonezawa,  while  they  lived  mostly  in  Yedo,  and  was 
never  allowed  the  dignity  he  attached  to  his  imbecile 
wife." 


182  JAPAN. 

I  do  not  mean  to  imply  that  this  custom  either  is  or 
was  a  universal  one ;  it  never  was  so  at  any  time  in 
Japan,  being  rather  permitted  than  approved ;  and 
modern  law  does  not  recognize  the  institution  at  all. 
For  instance,  in  future  only  the  son  of  an  Empress 
may  succeed  to  the  throne.  One  in  a  thousand  house- 
holds was  the  official  estimate  five  years  ago ;  and  the 
number  lessens  yearly,  because  nearly  every  case  is 
a  survival  from  the  old  regime.  It  is  one  of  the 
things  which  are  passing  away,  and  one  can  only  trust 
that  for  this,  as  well  as  others,  a  genuine  acceptance 
of  the  principles  of  Christian  ethics  may  take  the 
place  of  the  old  ideals  which  have  been  so  suddenly 
cast  down.  Failing  this,  it  is  to  be  feared  that,  for  a 
time  at  least,  many  things  must  be  worse  rather  than 
better  for  contact  with  the  letter  of  Western  pro- 
priety. 

The  patriarchal  custom  of  sons  living  with  the 
parents  is  likewise  bound  to  pass  with  the  changes 
now  going  on  in  society.  Whether  as  a  system  it  had 
most  of  good  or  evil,  need  not  be  discussed ;  but  just 
here  comes  in  the  value  of  Japanese  training  in  self- 
control,  in  pleasant  looks  and  pleasant  speech,  in  know- 
ing just  what  to  do  and  how  to  do  it — in  other  words, 
etiquette.  All  those  little  things  that  every  child 
must  learn  so  carefully  are  only  the  best  and  smoothest 
way  of  doing  needful  things ;  for  instance,  try  to  open 
a  sliding  screen,  to  get  up  from  the  floor  with  a  tray 
in  your   hand,  and  see  if  you  are  not  a  convert  to 


A  JAPANESE  HOUSEHOLD.  183 

Japanese  rules  for  those  motions,  at  any  rate.  And  the 
little  daily  observances,  the  little  bows  and  little  set 
phrases,  all  help  the  domestic  wheels  to  run  more  evenly. 
For  in  spite  of  all  difficulties  and  drawbacks,  in  many 
a  Japanese  household  there  is  peace  and  happiness,  and 
a  deep,  quiet  affection. 

Here  are  some  of  the  things  specially  enjoined  on 
young  girls : 

"  How  to  sit  down. — Bring  both  hands  and  knees 
together ;  quietly  kneel ;  sit  low,  putting  one  toe  over 
the  other  and  keeping  the  hands  in  the  lap. 

"  How  to  rise. — Leave  the  right  hand  in  the  original 
position ;  raise  the  body  with  the  fingers  of  the  left 
hand  on  the  mat,  rise  first  on  tiptoe,  and  as  the  body 
becomes  erect,  bring  both  knees  and  feet  together. 

"  When  a  tea  cup  is  set  before  her,  she  should  take 
it  up  with  her  right  hand,  and,  holding  it  in  both 
palms,  drink  the  tea  in  three  swallows  and  a  half. 

"  When  a  plate  of  cakes  is  presented,  she  should  first 
take  out  a  sheet  of  paper  (ladies  should  always  provide 
themselves  with  clean  paper),  then  select  a  cake  and 
put  it  on  the  paper  with  chop-sticks.  Then  she  may 
break  it  into  two  pieces  and  eat  one  piece  with  two 
fingers." 

A  woman  should  move  gently,  with  hands  hanging 
straight  and  head  a  little  down  ;  in  walking  her  tight, 
narrow  dress  compels  her  to  turn  her  toes  slightly 
inward,  and  she  should  slip  her  feet  smoothly  along 
the  floor.     They  tell  a  story  among  the  foreigners  of  a 


184  JAPAN. 

child  whose  American  teacher  tried  to  make  her  sit 
up  straight  and  enlarge  her  chest;  after  repeated 
lectures  the  little  girl  at  last  burst  into  tears,  exclaim- 
ing, "  I  don't  know  what  to  do  !  You  are  all  the  time 
telling  me  this,  and  when  I  go  home  my  mother  says, 
1  Don't  throw  back  your  head  in  that  rude,  forward 
way,'  and  between  you  I  am  scolded  all  the  time  !" 
Such  a  thing  might  easily  have  happened  often  in  the 
early  days  of  mission  schools ;  now,  the  Japanese 
schools  themselves  teach  a  light  kind  of  calisthenics,  and 
the  missions  go  to  great  pains  to  have  Japanese  good 
manners  taught  by  specialists  in  etiquette. 

Many  things  are  possible  to  a  Japanese  woman, 
because  her  code  has  taught  her  to  regard  marriage 
less  as  a  means  of  personal  happiness  than  as  a  duty. 
"  Marriage,"  says  the  (Chinese)  Li  Ki,  "  is  intended  to 
be  a  bond  of  love  between  persons  of  different  sur- 
names, with  a  view  in  its  retrospective  character  to 
secure  the  services  in  the  ancestral  temple,  and  in  its 
prospective  character  to  secure  the  continuance  of  the 
family  line.  .  .  .  There  is  nothing  so  deplorable  and 
shameful  as  the  neglect  of  the  worship  of  ancestors 
and  discontinuance  of  the  family  line."  Marriage 
therefore  is  simply  an  act  of  filial  piety,  which  Con- 
fucianism regards  as  the  highest  of  all  virtues,  the 
basis  of  all  morality. 

An  American  once  asked  a  Chinaman  if  he  thought 
he  could  do  a  certain  piece  of  work,  and  the  man  an- 
swered, "  I  have  been  a  bricklayer  for  seven  gener- 


A  JAPANESE   HOUSEHOLD.  185 

ations,  and  I  ought  to  know  how."  Not  my  father 
and  my  grandfather  before  me,  but  I — a  bit  of  the 
whole,  a  mere  link  in  the  chain.  Certainly  the  Orien- 
tal notion  of  the  solidarity  of  the  family  is  beyond 
the  wit  of  younger  nations  to  grasp. 

The  etymology  of  the  Chinese  word  Ko  (filial  piety) 
is  rather  enlightening.  It  is  said  to  be  made  up  of 
two  characters,  "  old  "  and  "  son,"  one  written  under 
the  other,  so  that  literally  it  means  a  son  bearing  his 
parent  on  his  shoulders,  like  a  Chinese  version  of 
iEneas  and  Anchises.  From  this  conception  of  their 
relation,  the  custom  of  a  man's  becoming  "  inkyo" 
(retired)  follows  naturally  enough  ;  as  soon  as  the  son  is 
able  to  support  his  father,  the  latter  may  enjoy  ease 
and  leisure,  and  it  is  the  glory  of  the  son  to  let  his 
parents  speedily  enter  upon  the  inkyo  life.  Though 
it  is  a  selfish  custom  on  the  father's  side,  Japanese 
writers  think  that  the  responsibility  has  a  steadying 
effect  on  many  a  young  man,  making  him  study  or 
work  more  diligently  and  avoid  evil  habits. 

Most  of  the  filial  piety  stories  have  a  Chinese  origin ; 
I  am  not  sure  though  where  one  of  the  prettiest  comes 
from,  that  of  the  poor  woodcutter,  all  whose  efforts 
failed  to  bring  in  enough  money  to  buy  sake  for  his  old 
father.  As  he  went  home  sorrowfully,  he  stopped  to 
drink  at  a  waterfall,  and  foimd  it  had  turned  into 
wine !  You  often  see  him  in  pictures,  kneeling  by  the 
stream,  and  joyfully  filling  a  gourd  such  as  pilgrims 
and  picnic  parties  carry. 


186  JAPAN. 

Naturally  the  choice  of  a  wife  is  theoretically  left 
to  the  parents,  but  the  fact  is  that  in  actual  practice  in 
Japan  both  man  and  girl  have  a  very  distinct  say  in 
the  matter.  A  missionary  once  said  jokingly  to  one  of 
his  evangelists,  "  I  suppose  a  lot  of  you  young  fellows 
will  be  going  to  the  X.  commencement  (naming  a 
large  girls'  school)  to  pick  out  your  wives,"  and  the 
young  man  answered  quite  soberly,  "  I  am  not  going 
myself,  but  M.  and  N.  are." 

Still,  though  it  is  proper  to  look  and  decide  pretty 
much  for  themselves,  "  premature  affection  between 
the  two  contracting  parties  is  considered  improper," 
says  Motoda.  "  Marriage  must  begin  with  respect, 
and  after  marriage  love  begins,"  he  quotes  from  the 
Confucian  law;   and  again  : 

"How  do  we  proceed  in  hewing  an  axe-handle? 
Without  another  axe  it  cannot  be  done. 
How  do  we  proceed  in  taking  a  wife? 

Without  a  go-between  it  cannot  be  done." 

Much  of  this  rigid  Confucianism  was  introduced 
only  a  couple  of  hundred  years  ago,  along  with  the 
great  revival  of  Chinese  influence  in  the  early  Toku- 
gawa  period ;  before  this  Japanese  women  enjoyed  a 
great  deal  more  freedom  and  influence,  especially  in 
the  brilliant  eighth  and  eleventh  centuries.  But  in 
the  seventeenth  century  the  "Mirror  for  Women" 
was  published,  and,  with  the  "  Greater  Learning,"  be- 
came  the   guide   to  women's  conduct  almost  to  the 


A  JAPANESE  HOUSEHOLD.  187 

present  day.  About  this  period  a  Daimyo  wrote  to 
his  granddaughter  on  her  marriage  : 

"  In  thy  youthful  womanhood,  it  is  very  natural 
that  thy  mind  is  often  taken  up  with  matters  of  dress ; 
but  forget  not  the  frugal  habits  thou  hast  been  taught. 
Devote  thyself  to  silk-worm  raising  and  other  womanly 
industries,  and  at  the  same  time  feed  thy  mind  with 
books  of  poetry.  Seek  not  culture  and  enlightenment 
for  their  own  sakes ;  the  aim  of  all  knowledge  is  to 
lead  us  into  virtue.  Serve  thy  parents  with  all  fidelity. 
With  obedience  to  thy  husband  in  all  quietness,  may 
your  prosperity  know  no  end  ! " 

Gentle  as  she  was  to  be,  a  Samurai  woman  yet 
carried  a  short  sword,  and  was  carefully  taught  how 
to  use  it  if  there  were  need.  A  young  girl  once  told 
me  that  she  remembered  seeing  her  mother  and  grand- 
mother practicing  fencing  at  the  outbreak  of  the 
Satsuma  rebellion,  that  they  might  be  ready,  if  called 
upon  in  their  husband's  absence,  to  defend  their  lord. 

Of  such  stuff  was  the  Countess  Hosokawa,  whose 
husband  took  the  side  of  Ieyasu  in  his  conflict  with 
Hideyoshi's  son  Hideyori.  Hosokawa,  going  to  camp 
with  Ieyasu,  left  his  wife  at  their  residence  near 
Osaka,  Hideyori's  stronghold  ;  and  here  she  was  visited 
by  a  messenger  who  summoned  her  to  appear  with  her 
children  at  the  castle.  She  at  once  understood  why  ; 
they  were  to  be  held  as  hostages,  in  hopes  of  getting 
Hosokawa  to  the  other  side.  Either  her  husband 
would  be  tempted   to  betray  his  honor,  or  she  very 


188  JAPAN. 

well  knew  the  disappointed  followers  of  Hideyori 
would  not  hesitate  to  crucify  her  with  her  children. 
She  sent  for  the  Karo  and  her  lady-in-waiting,  and 
begged  them  to  save  the  boy  and  girl ;  they  declared 
it  was  hopeless.  The  Countess  therefore  wrote  a  letter 
to  her  husband  explaining  the  necessity,  knelt  before 
the  family  shrine,  and  when  the  soldiers  were  an- 
nounced, cut  down  the  unconscious  children  and  thrust 
the  dagger  into  her  own  throat.  Her  story,  altered 
in  names  and  detail,  is  a  favorite  on  the  Tokyo  stage. 

The  simplicity  of  daily  life  in  Japan  impresses  all 
foreigners,  but  most  of  all  Americans,  supplied  as  we 
are  beyond  others  with  material  helps  to  existence. 
The  newcomer  hardly  knows  whether  to  pity  a  people 
so  devoid  of  what  to  him  are  the  commonest  necessi- 
ties, or  to  envy  the  Oriental  his  freedom  from  wants. 
And,  whether  we  should  like  it  for  ourselves  or  not,  it 
is  certain  that  this  simplicity  is  a  large  part  of  Japan's 
fascination  for  strangers. 

In  one  of  these  quiet  households  day  begins  with 
the  clamor  of  the  wooden  shutters  rolled  back  along 
the  balcony,  sometimes  before  the  sun  is  up  ;  for,  as  in 
all  southern  countries,  the  people  are  early  astir. 
Schools  begin  at  eight  in  winter  and  seven  in  summer, 
and  even  this  is  a  concession  to  modern  ideas  ;  Samurai 
boys  were  often  sent  to  their  teacher  breakfastless  in 
the  dawn.  First  of  all,  the  children  must  present 
themselves  to  their  parents,  slip  down  before  them 
with  foreheads  to  the  mat,  and  say  "  O  hayo,  Otot ' 


A  JAPANESE  HOUSEHOLD.  189 

San;  O  kayo,  Oka  San  "—Good-morning,  father, 
mother.  Even  the  baby  learns  to  put  his  fat  hands 
palms  down,  and  bob  his  funny  round  head,  with  its 
stiff  black  crown  of  hair.  He  says  "chichi"  and 
"  haha "  for  father  and  mother,  and  the  rest  all  call 
him  "  bot '  chan  "  till  he  is  quite  a  big  boy.  His  sis- 
ters may  be  O  Yuki  Chan  (Miss  Snow)  and  Umeko 
(Little  Plumblossom) — Chan  being  the  childish  version 
of  San. 

Though  there  is  no  dining-table,  the  family  gener- 
ally take  their  meals  together,  sitting  in  a  half  circle 
round  the  room ;  on  festival  days  they  use  the  guest 
room,  and  at  such  times  there  are  special  dishes  served 
in  little  bowls  set  by  each  one's  tray.  A  New  Year 
favorite  is  a  thick  sweetish  bean  soup,  in  which  float 
lumps  of  sticky  mochi,  the  indigestible  pounded  rice 
dough  the  Japanese  are  so  fond  of;  and  a  dish  which 
appears  many  times  a  year  is  a  mixture  of  rice  and 
red  beans.  Peas  should  be  offered  to  a  person  going 
on  a  journey,  because  the  name  (mame)  means  also 
good  luck,  prosperity. 

In  most  non-Christian  homes,  a  little  food  and  a 
little  drink  are  daily  placed  before  the  name-tablets  of 
the  ancestors  on  the  god-shelf,  and  here  too  the  offer- 
ing varies  with  the  season.  It  is  very  bad  to  stick 
one's  chop-sticks  upright  in  a  bowl  of  rice  at  dinner, 
because  they  are  placed  so  in  making  offerings  to  the 
dead.  For  the  same  reason  a  Japanese  will  not  pour 
cold  water  into  a  basin  and  add  hot ;  and  he  dislikes 


190  JAPAN. 

camelias,  because  their  heavily  falling  blossoms  make 
him  think  of  heads  tumbling  off! 

At  the  end  of  the  meal  the  children  bow  and  say 
go-chiso  sama — "an  honorable  feast;"  and  in  like 
manner  each  member  of  the  family  bows,  more  or 
less  profoundly,  and  murmurs  "sayonara"  before 
leaving  the  room.  Then  the  mother  looks  to  her 
housekeeping ;  in  these  modern  days  she  does  not 
always  raise  silk  or  spin,  but  she  cuts  and  sews,  and 
prides  herself  on  her  pickles,  and  overlooks  every- 
thing, even  if  she  has  many  servants.  The  routine 
of  life  is  varied  by  endless  demands  of  social  etiquette. 
When  a  child  is  born,  there  are  certain  ceremonies  for 
the  first  day,  and  again  on  the  seventh  night,  when 
the  baby  is  named  and  formally  dressed  for  the  first 
time ;  a  boy's  left  sleeve  must  go  on  first,  and  a  girl's 
right.  Any  event  among  the  neighbors  calls  for  gifts 
and  messages;  at  weddings,  funerals,  starting  on  a 
journey  or  returning,  certain  gifts  must  be  sent  and 
duly  acknowledged  by  return  gifts,  either  at  the  time 
or  afterward.  For  many  occasions  there  are  particu- 
lar cakes,  which  have  a  more  or  less  symbolic  mean- 
ing ;  fish,  salt  or  fresh,  is  a  favorite  for  congratulation. 
The  way  the  gift  is  wrapped  and  tied,  the  kind  and 
pattern  of  the  fukusa  or  covering  which  is  placed 
over  it,  and  which  is  to  be  returned,  all  show  to  the 
initiated  just  what  is  intended.  Callers  also  bring 
gifts  sometimes;  but  this  custom  is  going  out.  Of 
course,  the  first  thing  when  a  guest  arrives  is  to  offer 


A  JAPANESE  HOUSEHOLD.  191 

something  to  eat  and  drink,  usually  tea  and  cakes,  or 
sake  at  New  Year  time.  The  wife  must  see  to  all 
this ;  she  must  have  the  care  of  the  children's  health, 
education,  morals ;  their  clothing  and  her  husband's, 
as  well  as  her  own.  She  is  house-mistress  in  the 
truest  sense,  responsible  for  all  and  controlling  all. 
She  directs  the  servants,  men  as  well  as  women ;  she 
watches  over  the  children's  morning  greetings;  the 
tadaima  ("just  back"),  Avhen  they  return  from  school ; 
the  pretty  phrases  exchanged  when  any  one  goes  out 
or  comes  in ;  she  is  at  the  door,  with  the  household,  to 
say  O  haeri  ("  honorably  welcome  ")  when  the  master 
of  the  house  comes  back  from  even  the  briefest  ab- 
sence. A  survival  perhaps,  this  last,  from  the  days 
when  a  man  kept  literally  the  Samurai  injunction, 
"  Leaving  thy  house,  leave  ever  as  one  who  may  not 
return.'' 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

IKEGAMI A   TYPICAL    BUDDHIST   TEMPLE. 

"Earnestness  is  the  path  of  immortality  (Nirvana),  thoughtless- 
ness is  the  path  of  death. 

"  If  a  man  would  hasten  towards  the  good,  he  must  keep  his 
thoughts  from  evil. 

"  Let  no  man  think  lightly  of  evil,  saying  in  his  heart,  It  will  not 
come  nigh  unto  me.  Even  by  the  falling  of  water-drops  a  water-pot 
is  filled ;  the  fool  becomes  full  of  evil,  even  if  he  gather  it  little  by 
little." — From  the  "  Dharmapada,"  Max  Miller's  translation. 

If  one  should  look  over  the  map  of  Europe  and 
trace  the  position  of  the  great  mediaeval  monasteries 
and  cathedrals,  they  would  be  found  for  the  most  part 
to  lie  in  or  near  important  cities.  Of  course  in  many 
cases,  as  in  Protestant  Germany  or  Switzerland,  the 
monastery  has  been  laid  down,  and  the  town  has  fallen 
to  ruin,  or  has  been  outstripped  by  newer  neighbors ; 
but  taken  broadly,  it  is  safe  to  say  that  where  the 
Church  established  herself,  the  world  followed. 

Look  now  at  the  map  of  Japan.  Leaving  out  the 
religious  establishments — and  it  is  true  they  were  very 
numerous — at  Kyoto  and  Tokyo,  places  which  owed 
their  existence  to  the  State  and  not  to  the  Church,  the 
principal   Buddhist  foundations   are  at   Nara,  which 

192 


IKEGAMI— A  TYPICAL   BUDDHIST  TEMPLE.    193 

was  the  former  capital,  and  with  its  neighbor,  Hori-uji, 
the  first  home  of  Buddhism  in  Japan  ;  at  Osaka,  at 
Miidera  on  Lake  Biwa,  and  at  Ikegami  and  Nikko. 
Of  these,  Nara  retains  importance  chiefly  from  force  of 
association  with  the  past ;  Hori-uji  owes  its  modern 
existence  to  the  fact  that  the  best  tea  in  the  country  is 
grown  on  the  hills  round  about;  Miidera  has  always 
been  a  small  place  ;  Ikegami  lies  by  a  tiny  village  in 
the  hills  near  Tokyo;  Nikko  is  far  away  in  the  heart 
of  the  mountains.  Only  Osaka  is  and  has  always 
been  a  great  city,  a  centre  of  national  trade. 

One  cause  of  this  striking  difference  lies  in  the  fact 
that  the  monasteries  of  Europe  were  almost  always 
situated  on  or  near  the  great  trade  routes,  while  those 
of  Japan  as  frequently  lay  away  from  them  ;  but  this 
in  itself  points  back  to  a  radical  difference  of  aim. 
Whatever  their  after  shortcomings,  the  religious  houses 
of  the  mediaeval  church  were  certainly  founded  in  a 
missionary  spirit ;  their  object  was  to  reach  the  people, 
and  both  in  their  choice  of  sites  and  in  their  schools 
and  charities  the  founders  labored  to  that  end.  In 
the  East  it  was  otherwise ;  the  primary  purpose  of  a 
Buddhist's  religious  life  was  contemplation,  and  the 
more  complete  his  retirement  from  the  world  the 
better.  That  the  monasteries  became  centres  of  learn- 
ing was  natural ;  but  schools  for  outsiders,  and  espec- 
ially for  the  lower  classes,  were  a  secondary  considera- 
tion—  an  after  growth.  Therefore  it  was  that  a 
mountain  solitude  was  the  fittest  abode  for  these  seek- 
Vol.  L— 13 


1 94  JAPAN. 

ers  after  the  Way,  as  it  was  also  their  most  frequent 
choice. 

Buddhism  came  to  Japan  in  two  distinct  waves  of 
influence,  the  first  from  the  latter  part  of  the  fifth 
century  to  the  end  of  the  eighth,  when  missionaries 
came  from  China  and  Korea  to  the  islands ;  and  the 
second  from  the  beginning  of  the  ninth  century,  at 
which  time  many  Japanese  went  to  China  to  study, 
and  brought  back  the  learning  of  the  East,  much  as 
the  early  Greeks  brought  the  wisdom  of  the  Egyp- 
tians. At  this  later  period  the  teaching  of  the  north- 
ern school  of  Buddhism  had  reached  China  from 
India,  and  this  so-called  doctrine  of  the  "  Greater 
Vehicle  "  is  that  which  finally  prevailed  in  Japan. 

But  not  in  a  single  form.  The  sects  of  Christianity 
do  not  greatly  surprise  the  Japanese,  for  they  have 
eight  or  ten  themselves,  and  as  many  sub-sects.  Of 
these,  one  of  the  latest,  and  also  the  most  wealthy 
and  influential,  is  the  Nichiren,  named  for  St.  Nichi- 
ren,  its  founder ;  and  the  greatest  temple  of  the  sect 
is  the  Hon-monji  at  Ikegami,  near  Tokyo. 

The  easiest  way  there  is  by  train  to  Omori  station, 
on  the  Yokohama  line,  and  from  there  by  kuruma,  a 
mile  and  a  half  back  into  the  country ;  but  the  pret- 
tiest and  by  far  the  most  interesting  is  to  ride  the 
wdiole  distance,  perhaps  six  miles,  by  delightful  lanes 
and  by-ways  out  from  Tokyo.  The  general  direction 
is  west,  first  by  Shiba  Park,  and  then  over  the  long 
ridge  and  into  a  narrow  valley,  flanked  by  wooded 


IKEGAMI— A  TYPICAL  BUDDHIST  TEMPLE.    195 

hills.  You  have  left  the  city  now ;  the  little  road 
might  be  an  English  lane,  winding  between  green 
banks  or  stone  walls,  where  clumps  of  tiny  fern  grow 
in  the  chinks,  and  under  arching  trees ;  then  it  skirts 
the  rice  fields,  which  fill  all  the  level  space  of  the 
valley  from  edge  to  edge,  and  so  by  more  ridges  and 
valleys  farther  away  into  the  heart  of  the  hills. 
Everywhere  there  is  the  sharpest  contrast  between 
slope  and  level ;  the  valleys  are  divided  into  little 
squares,  watered  and  cultivated  over  every  inch,  but 
the  moment  the  hill  begins,  it  is  as  if  one  stepped  from 
a  garden  into  some  forest  wilderness.  Under  foot  are 
violets  and  wood  flowers,  mixed  with  thick  stems  of 
the  low,  wild  pirns  Japonica,  which  creeps  and  roots 
along  the  hillside,  and  lifts  its  coral  blossoms  only  a 
few  inches  from  the  ground.  A  tangle  of  white  brier 
rose  is  overgrown  with  long  streamers  of  akebia  and 
wild  gourd,  and  on  the  open  slopes  bluebells  and 
dead-nettle  and  a  host  of  summer  field  flowers, 
strangely  like  our  own,  are  struggling  with  the 
greedy  knot-grass.  In  early  spring,  when  the  fields 
lie  fallow,  all  the  valleys  are  carpeted  with  slender 
purple  trefoil ;  and  down  among  the  leaves  one  may 
find  the  dainty  white  marsh  violet,  with  blue-veined 
petals  and  a  faint,  delicious  fragrance. 

Two  or  three  miles  out  the  road  leads  through  a 
pretty  village  called  Meguro,  which  is  famous  solely 
for  the  graves  of  the  lovers  Gompaehi  and  Komura- 
saki.     If  I  tell  their  tale  with  little  sympathy,  it  is 


196  JAPAN. 

because  I  was  never  able  to  feel  much  for  those  mis- 
guided persons,  particularly  for  the  man,  who  seems 
to  me  as  cowardly  a  young  cut-throat  as  ever  got  his 
deserts. 

This  Gompachi,  then,  was  on  his  way  to  Yedo  to 
seek  his  fortune,  when  at  an  inn  a  pretty  girl  woke 
him  in  the  middle  of  the  night  and  told  him  that  a 
band  of  robbers,  who  had  kidnapped  her,  were  going 
to  kill  him  in  the  morning.  Of  course,  the  knight 
disposed  of  the  robbers  and  took  the  girl  home ;  but, 
though  she  was  exceedingly  pretty  and  her  parents 
were  more  than  willing,  he  would  not  marry  a  mer- 
chant's daughter,  and  went  on  his  way  lamenting. 

Arrived  at  Yedo,  he  soon  spent  all  his  money  among 
kindred  spirits,  and  was  quite  penniless,  when  one 
day  he  discovered  in  a  famous  new  beauty  of  the 
Yoshiwara  his  forsaken  Komurasaki.  It  was  the 
old  story  of  parents  reduced  to  want  and  sacrificing 
their  daughter  as  a  last  resource.  Gompachi  vowed 
he  would  buy  her  freedom,  but  having  nothing  left, 
took  to  highway  robbery.  He  wasted  all  he  stole, 
and  stole  again ;  and  was  presently  caught  and  put  to 
death.  When  the  girl  heard  it,  she  went  to  his  grave 
and  killed  herself  there,  in  the  hope  that  in  another 
life  she  would  join  him  and  be  happy.  There  is  noth- 
ing to  be  seen  at  the  tomb  where  they  are  buried 
together,  but  those  who  are  so  moved  may  turn  aside 
and  visit  it  on  the  way  to  a  worthier  shrine. 

Though  now  so  near  the  great  city,  at  the  time  it 


IKEGAMI-A   TYPICAL  BUDDHIST  TEMPLE.    197 

was  founded  and  for  three  hundred  years  after  Ikegami 
fulfilled  all  the  requirements  of  solitude  and  removal 
from  the  world  ;  for  Kamakura  was  then  the  Shogun's 
capital,  and  the  region  north  of  the  Hakone  pass  was 
still  barely  more  than  half  colonized.  Even  now,  as 
one  rides  through  the  little  village  of  thatched  cottages 
strung  along  the  narrow  lane,  and  enters  the  pine  wood 
about  the  monastery,  one  might  easily  imagine  oneself 
leagues  from  any  city.  The  whole  wood  is  very  still 
and  lonely ;  the  only  sounds  are  the  wind  and  the 
birds  in  the  branches,  and  far  off,  the  dull,  steady 
beating  of  the  drum  as  the  serving  priest  drones  the 
mystic  formula,  Nammyo-ho-remje-kyo,  "I  put  my 
trust  in  the  Law  of  the  Wonderful  White  Lotus."  The 
village  is  quite  out  of  sight  below ;  a  long  flight  of 
stone  steps  climbs  the  hill  under  the  trees,  and  at  the 
top  is  the  entrance  proper,  a  typical  two-storied  red 
gate,  within  which  is  the  temple  court,  a  large  open 
space,  fenced  in  and  strewn  with  pebbles,  as  such 
courts  usually  are. 

This  Ikegami  temple  group  is  uncommonly  interest- 
ino\  because  it  includes  nearly  all  the  different  build- 
ings  which  belong  to  a  typical  Buddhist  establishment 
— the  Founder's  hall  and  main  hall,  the  bell  tower 
and  drum  tower,  pagoda,  revolving  library  and  holy 
water  cistern,  besides  the  treasury,  reception  rooms  and 
priests'  apartments.  The  two  principal  buildings  face 
the  entrance ;  they  are  the  main  temple  or  Shaka-Do, 
hall  of  Shaka,  as  the  Japanese  call  Sakyamuni  (Gau- 


198  JAPAN. 

tama  Buddha),  and  the  Founder's,  dedicated  to  Nich- 
iren,  the  patron  saint  of  the  place.  This  last  is  the 
larger  of  the  two,  and  contains  a  life-sized  image  of 
Nichiren  in  a  beautiful  lacquered  shrine.  High  up  on 
the  wall  are  pictures  of  Buddhist  angels,  and  all  the 
half-Hindu  appointments  of  Buddhist  ritual  are  in 
place — the  lamps  and  embroidered  hangings,  the  drums 
and  gongs  and  low  reading  stands  for  the  priests,  set 
before  the  altar  on  the  matted  floor.  Tall  brass  vases 
hold  great  gilded  lotus  flowers,  and  the  lotus  is  carved 
on  the  lanterns  and  worked  on  hangings  and  cut  into 
the  stone  coping  beside  the  steps,  even  more  lavishly 
than  at  other  temples,  for  Nichiren's  special  doctrine 
was  the  worship  of  the  Lotus  Sutra,  the  Book  of  the 
Law  of  the  White  Lotus.  A  great  stone  lotus  flower 
supports  the  curious  stone  tope,  with  a  bron"ze  roof, 
which  holds  the  relics  of  the  saint — a  tooth  and  a 
handful  of  ashes  ;  though  he  died  here,  his  bones  were 
carried  elsewhere. 

In  the  drum  tower  near  the  entrance  a  priest  is 
almost  constantly  beating  the  drum,  and  reciting  the 
sacred  formula  of  the  sect,  the  invocation  to  the  Lotus 
Book.  All  the  buildings  are  of  wood,  their  heavy 
tiled  roofs  resting  as  usual  on  a  bewilderment  of 
rafters  and  cornices.  Behind  the  Shaka-Do  stands  the 
revolving  library,  which  contains  a  complete  set  of  the 
Buddhist  Scriptures  ;  it  is  not  exactly  a  prayer  wheel, 
but  the  theory  of  it  is  that  whoever  will  turn  it  three 
times,  reciting  a  suitable  prayer,  may  obtain  as  much 


IKEGAMI— A  TYPICAL   BUDDHIST  TEMPLE.    199 

merit  as  if  he  had  read  through  the  entire  collection 
of  over  six  thousand  volumes,  a  task  quite  impossible 
for  any  single  individual;  "moreover  long  life,  pros- 
perity, and  the  avoidance  of  all  misfortunes  shall  be 
his  reward."  (Chamberlain).  The  credit  of  the  inven- 
tion belongs  to  a  certain  Fu  Daishi  (St.  Fu),  a  deified 
Chinese  priest  of  the  sixth  century,  from  whom  it  was 
copied  in  Japan. 

A  small  roofed  gate  at  the  back  of  the  temple  en- 
closure leads  to  the  priests'  apartments,  students'  dor- 
mitories, reception  rooms,  etc.,  which  make  a  consider- 
able group  of  buildings.  All  monasteries  have  rooms 
for  the  entertainment  of  guests  and  pilgrims,  a  feature 
made  necessary  by  their  remoteness  from  towns,  if  by 
no  other  reason.  The  reception  rooms  intended  for 
guests  of  rank  were  built  of  costly  wood,  and  the  slid- 
ing screens  were  often  decorated  by  the  greatest  paint- 
ers of  the  time,  especially  by  masters  of  the  Kano 
School,  which  followed  the  religious  traditions  of 
Chinese  art.  Indeed,  it  is  chiefly  by  these  decorative 
works  that  foreigners  are  obliged  to  estimate  the  paint- 
ers of  Japan,  for  the  movable  pieces,  kakemono  and 
giku,  are  kept  hidden  away  in  the  treasuries  of  the 
temples,  and  can  very  seldom  be  seen  by  any  one. 

The  annual  festival  is  held  on  the  12th  and  13th  of 
October,  the  anniversary  of  Nichiren's  death,  and 
draws  immense  crowds  from  the  city,  as  well  as  from 
more  distant  places.  Sometimes  over  twenty  thousand 
pilgrims  are  said   to  attend.     A  second  lesser  festival 


200  JAPAN. 

takes  place  in  April,  beginning  on  the  22d,  the  birth- 
day of  the  Founder,  and  lasting  five  days. 

Nichiren  is  the  same  reformer  saint  who  so  narrowly 
escaped  being  martyred  at  Enoshima.  He  was  born 
not  very  far  from  there,  in  the  province  of  Awa,  across 
Yedo  bay,  in  the  spring  of  1222;  so  that  by  one  of 
those  curious  parallels  of  history,  the  Japanese  St. 
Dominic  entered  the  world  just  one  year  after  his 
European  prototype  went  out  of  it.  The  father  was 
living  as  a  poor  fisherman,  but  both  he  and  his  wife 
were  of  good  birth,  and  had  been  exiled  for  some 
political  offence.  Many  wonderful  things  are  told  of 
the  child's  birth  and  babyhood ;  his  mother  dreamed 
that  he  was  the  child  of  the  sun-god  (Nichi),  and  in 
remembrance  gave  him  the  name  Zen-nichi-maro 
(Good  Sun  Boy),  which  he  afterwards  changed  to  Nich- 
iren, Sun  Lotus.  They  say,  too,  that  a  clear  spring 
burst  forth  in  the  fisherman's  garden  for  the  baby's 
first  bath,  and  a  white  lotus  bloomed  three  months  out 
of  season.  Moreover,  the  date  of  his  birth  fell  one 
day  later  than  the  birthday  of  Buddha,  and  the  year 
was  the  beginning  of  the  third  millenium  after  Buddha's 
entrance  into  Nirvana,  the  period  of  the  Later  Law, 
at  which  time  the  great  teacher  had  prophesied  that  a 
light  should  appear  to  the  east  of  India.  Before  he 
was  well  grown,  the  fisherman's  son  had  come  to 
believe  himself  predestined  to  be  that  light. 

At  twelve  the  boy  was  entered  as  a  novice  at  a 
neighboring  monastery,  and  took  the  vows  four  years 


IKEGAMI— A  TYPICAL  BUDDHIST  TEMPLE.    201 

later ;  but  he  was  profoundly  dissatisfied  with  the 
teaching  of  his  abbot,  and  still  more  with  the  multi- 
plicity of  the  sects  of  which  he  was  told — desiring  to 
know  which  among  them  all  was  the  true  law  of 
Buddha.  Besides  the  so-called  "Eight  Sects"  of  the 
ninth  century,  the  twelfth  century  had  added  two 
more,  the  Zen,  and  the  Jodo  or  "  Pure  Land "  sect. 
The  Zen  was  imported  from  China,  where  it  originated 
several  hundred  years  earlier.  Its  distinguishing  doc- 
trine was  belief  in  a  sort  of  telepathy,  in  the  power 
to  transmit  thought  without  words  from  one  mind  to 
another  properly  attuned.  Hearn  gives  the  story  of 
its  origin  his  unfailing  poetic  touch :  "  When  the 
Buddha  was  preaching  upon  the  Vulture  Peak,  there 
suddenly  appeared  before  him  the  great  Brahma,  who 
presented  a  gold-colored  flower  to  the  Blessed  One, 
and  besought  him  to  preach  the  Law.  The  Blessed 
One  accepted  the  heavenly  flower,  and  held  it  in  his 
hand,  but  spoke  no  word.  Then  the  great  assembly 
wondered  at  the  silence  of  the  Blessed  One.  But  the 
venerable  Kasyapa  smiled.  And  the  Blessed  One 
said  to  the  venerable  Kasyapa  :  '  I  have  the  wonder- 
ful thought  of  Nirvana,  the  Eve  of  the  True  Law, 
which  I  now  shall  give  you.'  So  by  thought  alone 
the  doctrine  was  transmitted  it  Kasyapa ;  and  by 
thought  alone  it  was  transmitted  to  Ananda ;  and 
by  thought  alone  it  was  transmitted  from  patriarch  to 
patriarch,  even  to  the  time  of  Bodhi-dharma" — which 
last  saint  wras  he  who  sat  so  many  years  in  meditation 


202  JAPAN. 

that  his  legs  dropped  off,  and  he  was  reduced  to  the 
shape  of  the  delightful  red  tumblers  which  Japanese 
children  buy  at  fairs  and  stand  on  their  heads,  to  see 
them  turn  a  somersault  and  right  themselves  again. 

The  Zen  doctrine  appealed  strongly  to  the  educated 
classes,  who  delighted  in  its  exercises  of  mystic  con- 
templation. The  Jodo,  not  less  mystical,  was  directed 
especially  to  the  common  people.  It  was  a  doctrine 
of  salvation  by  grace,  derived  from  the  "  Mahay  ana  " 
books,  a  series  of  three  Sutras  concerning  Amida  and 
the  Paradise  of  the  West.  It  taught  that  works  were 
of  no  avail ;  whoever  put  his  trust  in  Amida  was 
united  to  him,  and  after  death  would  enter  into  Para- 
dise, the  Pure  Land,  there  to  live  a  mystic  life  of 
holiness  till  at  last  he  was  worthy  to  attain  Nirvana, 
the  state  of  perfect  blessedness.  Worshipers  repeat 
over  and  over  the  formula,  "  Nammu  Amida  Buddha  " 
— I  commit  myself  to  thee,  great  Amida — in  a  long 
sing-song  chant,  sometimes  accompanying  it  by  ring- 
ing little  hand-bells ;  from  this  phrase  they  got  the 
name  of  Nem-Butsu  or  "  Call  on  Buddha  "  sect.  The 
Monto  sect  hold  this  doctrine  in  the  most  advanced 
form;  their  foundations  are  called  Hongwanji,  mon- 
asteries of  the  True  Vow,  and,  with  the  Tendai  and 
the  Nichiren,  they  are  the  most  powerful  sects  in 
Japan  to-day. 

While  fasting  and  meditating  over  these  difficult 
problems,  young  Nichiren  believed  that  he  received  a 
direct   inspiration   through  a  sentence  in  one  of  the 


IKEGAMI-A  TYPICAL  BUDDHIST  TEMPLE.    203 

sacred  books—"  Trust  in  the  word,  and  not  in  man." 
This  he  considered  must  mean  that  he  was  to  put  his 
trust  in  the  written  law  rather  than  any  one's  interpre- 
tation of  it ;  and  of  the  four  great  Sutras,  or  Books  of 
the  Law,  he  finally  chose  the  last  in  order,  which  con- 
tains the  teachings  of  the  last  eight  years  of  Gautama 
Buddha's  life.  In  this  he  believed  he  should  find  the 
essence  of  the  whole  body  of  instruction,  "  the  prin- 
ciple of  all  things,  the  truth  of  eternity,  and  the 
sacred  meaning  of  Buddha's  life  and  his  entrance  into 
enlightenment." 

The  next  step  was  to  study  the  great  Sutra  more 
fully,  and  for  this  he  set  out  for  the  large  Tendai  mon- 
astery on  Mount  Hiezan,  near  Kyoto,  and  there  spent 
ten  years  examining  texts  and  commentaries.  During 
this  time  he  had  dreams  and  visions  of  his  future 
work ;  in  one  of  these  he  saw  all  the  deities  of  the 
country  floating  over  him  and  promising  protection, 
bidding  him  go  forth  and  destroy  the  darkness  of  the 
land. 

There  must  have  been  much  of  the  fanatic,  as  well 
as  the  mystic,  in  Nichiren's  character.  It  is  said  that 
he  became  particularly  inflamed  against  the  Jodo  sect, 
because  once  when  going  through  a  village  he  saw  a 
party  of  children  playing  rudely  with  an  image  of 
Shaka.  Greatly  horrified,  he  went  to  the  father  of 
the  older  ones  and  rebuked  him  for  permitting  such 
wickedness ;  to  which  the  man  replied,  that  Shinran 
(the  founder  of  the  chief  sect  of  Jodo)  taught  that 


204  JAPAN. 

they  should  put  their  whole  trust  in  Amida,  and, 
therefore,  the  other  images  could  be  of  no  possible 
consequence.  Still  further  appalled  by  such  blas- 
phemy, Nichiren  retired,  and  from  that  moment 
preached  vehemently  against  the  pernicious  doctrine. 
His  is  the  one  sect  in  Japan  which  is  intolerant  to- 
wards the  rest ;  it  was  also  the  one  which  Nobunaga 
especially  hated  and  did  all  he  could  to  suppress,  and 
which  after  his  time  took  a  leading  part  in  the  perse- 
cution of  the  Christians. 

At  the  age  of  thirty-two,  Nichiren  was  ready  to 
begin  his  public  work.  It  was  at  this  time  that  he 
took  the  name  by  which  he  continued  to  be  known, 
and  at  the  same  time  also  he  framed  the  sacred  for- 
mula which  his  followers  recite,  Nammyo-ho-renge-kyo. 
Armed  with  this,  he  returned  to  his  native  province, 
visited  his  parents,  and  announced  that  he  would  preach 
at  the  local  temple  on  a  certain  day.  Naturally,  the 
neighbors  flocked  to  hear  him ;  and  what  they  heard 
was  unmeasured  denunciation  of  all  they  were  accus- 
tomed to  believe.  "  Know  that  Jodo  is  a  way  to  hell ; 
Zen  the  teaching  of  internal  hosts  of  evil ;  the  Shingon 
a  heresy  to  destroy  the  nation,  and  the  Ritsu  an  enemy 
of  the  land.  These  are  not  my  words;  I  found  them 
in  the  Sutra.  Hark  to  the  cuckoo  above  the  clouds ; 
he  knows  the  time  and  warns  you  to  plant.  Now 
is  the  time  for  planting  the  Lotus  Sutra,  and  I  am 
the  messenger  of  the  Blessed  One  sent  you  for  that 
purpose." 


IKEGAMI— A  TYPICAL  BUDDHIST  TEMPLE.    205 

But  for  the  good  old  abbot,  his  former  teacher, 
Nichiren  would  have  been  put  to  death  for  a  blasphe- 
mer then  aud  there  j  as  soon  as  it  was  dark  he  sent  the 
fanatic  safely  out  of  the  province.  Nichiren  went 
straight  to  Kamakura,  the  Shogun's  capital ;  built  a 
straw  hut  on  a  bit  of  waste  ground,  and  began  preach- 
ing in  the  streets — a  thing  hitherto  unknown  in  Japan. 
He  made  disciples  as  well  as  enemies,  to  an  extent  that 
alarmed  the  authorities,  and  he  was  banished  for  a 
time,  but  returned  to  repeat  all  his  offences ;  adding 
prophecies  of  dire  evil,  and  especially  of  foreign  inva- 
sion, something  which  Japan  had  never  known,  but 
which  actually  came  in  the  Mongol  expedition,  under 
Kublai  Khan,  a  year  before  Nichiren's  death.  About 
this  time  a  party  of  swordsmen  set  upon  him  and  his 
disciples  in  a  lonely  place,  and  two  were  killed  in  de- 
fence of  their  master,  who  escaped  with  a  cut  on  the 
head.  So  far  his  office  protected  him,  but  after  this 
he  was  arrested  and  sentenced  to  die  at  Enoshima, 
escaping  through  the  Regent's  fears.  Instead,  the 
Regent  exiled  him  for  five  years  to  Sado,  a  wild  island 
on  the  dreary  west  coast,  with  the  result  that  the 
neighboring  province  of  Echigo  became  one  of  the 
strongholds  of  his  sect.      After   this   the   authorit 


les 


gave  up  opposing  him,  and  his  followers  began  a  round 
of  visits  to  other  temples  in  bands  of  twenty  or  more, 
beating  their  drums  and  reciting  the  lotus  formula  in 
a  droning  sing-song.  It  is  hard  to  imagine  how  any 
other  creed  survived  such  an  onslaught  of  sound. 


206  JAPAN. 

His  teachings  thus  spread,  the  reformer  retired  to 
Mount  Minobu,  near  Fujiyama,  and  meditated  and  re- 
ceived disciples  for  the  rest  of  his  life.  In  his  last 
months  he  went  on  a  visit  to  Ikegami,  and  died  there 
in  the  house  of  a  disciple,  being  just  sixty  years  old. 
The  great  temples  and  fine  apartments  at  Ikegami  are 
of  a  later  growth  ;  at  Minobu,  as  in  the  days  of  strife 
at  Kamakura,  the  saint  contented  himself  with  a  straw 
hut. 

The  best  time  to  visit  Ikegami  is  in  March,  when 
the  plums  are  in  blossom ;  on  a  sheltered  slope  below 
the  monastery  there  are  some  wonderful  old  trees, 
gnarled  and  twisted  as  the  Japanese  love  to  see  them 
— rivals  of  the  famous  "  Creeping  Dragon  "  trees  at 
Kameido,  in  Tokyo.  The  priests  have  also  a  wonder- 
ful collection  of  dwarf  trees,  some  over  a  hundred 
years  old ;  one  has  a  trunk  a  foot  thick,  and  grows  in 
an  ornamental  porcelain  pot  only  a  few  inches  larger ; 
another  taller  one  bends  down  its  branches  like  a  weep- 
ing willow,  set  with  stars  of  fragrant  white  flowers. 
The  red  plum  blossoms  very  early,  and  can  be  per- 
suaded to  take  on  marvelous  shapes,  but  it  is  less 
esteemed  than  the  pink  or  the  white,  because  it  has 
no  fragrance. 

Later  in  the  year  the  monks  have  a  fine  display  of 
botan,  the  great  satin-petaled  bush  peony,  as  different 
from  a  common  garden  "  p'iny  "  as  a  tea-rose  from  a 
brier.  The  flowers  are  sometimes  eight  or  ten  inches 
across,  and  of  all  shades,  from  snowy  white  through 


IKEGAMI— A  TYPICAL   BUDDHIST  TEMPLE.    207 

rose  color  to  the  deepest  velvety  maroon,  dark  as  pan- 
sies  almost.  It  is  a  very  delicate  flower,  and  will  not 
bear  the  slightest  wind  or  rain  on  the  petals;  the 
gardeners  shelter  the  plants  with  bamboo  screens,  and 
guard  the  foliage  as  carefully  as  the  flowers,  massing 
them  when  the  time  comes  in  open  sheds,  where  the 
colors  are  placed  to  blend  and  foil  one  another  as  if  in 
a  picture.  There  is  a  fine  botan  garden  in  Tokyo, 
but  they  say  no  one  has  such  flowers  as  the  monks  at 
Ikegami.1 

1  Since  this  chapter  was  written,  a  fire  broke  out  in  the  students' 
dormitories,  where  a  number  of  young  men  were  working  late  pre- 
paring for  examination ;  it  was  a  windy  night,  and  though  fire 
engines  came  from  Omori,  they  were  useless,  because  there  was  no 
water  except  in  a  small  well.  A  large  part  of  the  buildings  were 
burned,  but  the  treasury  was  saved,  and  most  of  the  works  of  art  in 
the  temples.  Even  if  rebuilt,  much  of  the  charm  of  the  place  must 
be  lost  for  the  present. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

OJI    MAPLES. 

Northward  from  Tokyo  the  hills  send  out  long 
ridges  which  stop  suddenly,  as  if  cut  off,  on  the  edge 
of  the  rice  fields.  Once  these  ridges  must  have  been 
cliffs  washed  by  the  waves,  in  the  pre-historic  time 
when  the  sea  came  up  here  and  extended  for  miles  to 
the  north  and  east,  over  the  great  level  which  is  now 
known  as  the  Musashi  plain.  When  the  coast  rose 
and  the  sea  retreated,  there  was  left  a  vast  reedy 
morass,  where  the  wild  Emishi  (x4inu)  used  to  hide; 
for  which  reason  the  Japanese  called  them  Reed-men. 

It  may  have  been  somewhere  hereabouts  that  Yo- 
shiiye  of  Minamoto,  grandfather  of  Yoritomo,  had 
his  famous  encounter  with  the  Emishi.  I  once  saw 
the  scene  represented  on  a  double  folding  screen  ;  a 
few  sweeps  of  the  brush  had  transformed  the  smooth, 
brownish  surface  of  the  paper  into  a  vast  plain 
shrouded  in  mist,  through  which  a  tall  plume  of 
suznki  grass  showed  here  and  there,  just  as  you  may  see 
it  any  day  if  you  take  the  early  train  from  Uyeno 
station,  only  now  it  will  be  rice-stalks  instead  of 
rushes  that  rise  through  the  mist.     On  one  panel  two 

208 


OJI   MAPLES.  209 

or  three  knights  reined  in  their  horses  on  the  edge  of 
the  plain  ;  on  the  other,  a  flock  of  wild  fowl  flew  rest- 
lessly hither  and  thither.  That  was  all;  but  to  a 
Japanese  eye  it  told  the  whole  story ;  how  the  great 
general  Yoshiiye  led  an  expedition  against  the  rebel- 
lious Emishi,  and  how  the  land  seemed  all  open  and 
safe,  so  that  the  knights  were  riding  gaily  down  from 
the  hills  in  the  morning  sun.  But  Yoshiiye  marked 
the  troubled  flight  of  the  birds,  and  bade  his  men  wait 
while  he  sent  scouts  forward  to  see  what  had  disturbed 
the  wild  things  from  their  feeding  grounds ;  and  they 
searched  and  found  an  army  of  barbarians,  with 
short  bows  bent,  hidden  in  the  low  mist.  So  Yo- 
shiiye fought  and  slew  them,  and  subdued  all  the  re- 
gion for  his  lord. 

Oji,  a  few  stations  out  from  Uyeno,  has  pleasanter 
and  less  warlike  associations.  The  station  lies  under 
a  great  hill,  called  Akusa,  which  for  two  or  three  cen- 
turies has  been  a  favorite  resort  of  flower  lovers. 
Perhaps  the  place  was  chosen  for  some  fancied  resem- 
blance to  Takao  or  Arashiyama,  the  fashionable 
flower-viewing  hills  near  Kyoto ;  for  however  the 
Shogun's  court  might  dominate  the  Emperor's  in 
actual  fact,  the  newer  aristocracy  long  looked  to  the 
old  for  literary  and  social  precedents,  much  as  Berlin 
followed  Hanover  thirty  or  forty  years  ago.  At  all 
events,  the  Yedo  people  planted  on  Akusa  a  grove  of 
cherry  trees,  which  are  beautiful  and  much  visited 
still,  though  the  view  across  the  plain  is  grievously 
Vol.  I— 14 


210  JAPAN. 

spoiled  by  a  large  paper  manufacturing  plant,  estab- 
lished just  under  the  hill  by  the  government  in  one  of 
its  efforts  to  promote  modern  methods  of  industry. 
It  is  not  a  very  bright  example  of  the  benefit  of  sub- 
sidies, for  there  are  two  private  factories  side  by  side 
with  the  government  one,  which  are  said  to  be  far 
more  prosperous;  however,  between  them,  they 
succeed  in  making  a  great  deal  of  cheap  paper, 
and  the  city  is  slowly  but  inevitably  growing  out 
this  way. 

A  reprint  from  an  old  picture  in  the  "  Official  His- 
tory of  Japan  "  shows  "A  picnic  on  the  Akusa  hill  in 
the  flowery  season;"  except  for  the  two-sworded 
knights,  in  their  wide  hakama  (kilted  trousers),  it 
might  have  been  photographed  last  April,  for  the 
same  figures  are  there  ;  the  little  girls  in  bright  dresses 
running  races  on  the  grass  ;  a  party  of  picnic  revelers 
seated  on  spread  blankets,  surrounded  by  lunch-boxes 
and  sake-bottles ;  a  coolie,  with  blue  cotton  head-ker- 
chief, tied  on  like  a  nightcap,  is  in  the  act  of  dashing 
a  pailful  of  water  over  a  comrade,  who  seems  to  have 
drunk  quite  as  much  as  is  good  for  him.  Ladies  in 
neat,  tight-fitting  kimono  and  handsome  sashes  pace 
demurely  by  under  their  paper  parasols,  and  a  pair  of 
strolling  samisen-players  are  trying  to  attract  the 
gentry,  while  down  the  path  comes  a  paper  butterfly 
seller,  surrounded  by  a  crowd  of  delighted  children, 
The  little  Inari  temple  still  stands  there,  and  beyond 
the  pines,  on  the  edge  of  the  hill,  is  the  same  beau- 


OJI   MAPLES.  211 

tiful  view  of  Fuji  San  that  charmed  the  visitors  of 
Tokugawa  days. 

But  the  maples,  even  more  than  the  cherry-blos- 
soms, are  Oji's  glory  ;  and  mercifully  the  mills  are 
below  the  gorge  of  the  Takigawa,  where  they  grow. 
The  little  river  furnishes  the  water  supply  for  these 
mills,  but  it  is  conceivable  that  they  have  been  set 
where  they  are  purposely,  to  be  out  of  the  way ;  for  the 
Japanese  do  not  yet  wantonly  destroy  a  beautiful  spot. 
Indeed,  to  spoil  the  upper  part  of  the  Takigawa 
would  be  to  ruin  valuable  property,  for  in  spring  and 
autumn  and  almost  all  the  year  the  maple  garden 
brings  endless  custom  to  a  couple  of  flourishing  tea- 
houses, which  own  and  maintain  it  for  that  very 
purpose. 

November  is  the  month  of  maples;  in  the  old 
calendar,  when  it  was  the  ninth  month  of  the  year,  it 
was  called  Momiji-dzuki,  "  red-leaf  month/'  or  some- 
times "  time  of  branches  " — of  course,  red  ones.  The 
rain  of  November,  which  comes  seldom  and  sparingly, 
was  called  dew  showers,  or  showers  of  red,  because 
the  autumn  rains  were  supposed  to  dye  the  leaves. 
Momiji  means  any  kind  of  red  leaf,  whether  maple  or 
oak,  or  whatever ;  but  the  maple  is  the  choicest  of  all 
the  changing  leaves,  and  so  carries  off  the  honors  of 
the  name. 

Sometimes  maples  are  planted  so  that  the  sunset 
light  shall  brighten  them  ;  but  at  Oji  the  right  hour 
is  early   morning,  when  the  sun   slants  through  the 


212  JAPAN. 

branches  and  turns  the  leaves  blood-crimson,  like  a 
hand  held  up  to  the  light.  Oji  station  is  five  miles 
out  from  Uyeno,  on  the  main  line  north  ;  till  the  mills 
came  it  was  the  merest  village,  nestled  among  tea 
plantations  on  the  edge  of  the  plain,  but  it  is  growing 
quite  a  suburb  now.  It  is  only  a  little  way  from  the 
station  to  a  gate  leading  into  a  bit  of  wood,  through 
which  the  path  winds  to  the  edge  of  a  narrow  ravine, 
clothed  on  both  sides  with  maples ;  some  are  large 
forest  trees,  others  slender,  graceful  things,  only  ten  or 
a  dozen  feet  high,  all  apparently  growing  just  as  they 
please  among  light  underwood.  Across  the  river  a 
grove  of  bamboo  soars  far  above  the  other  trees,  the 
feathery  tops  always  swaying  a  little,  even  in  the  still 
"  maple  weather;"  a  little  farther  up  a  curving  bridge 
crosses  the  stream,  and  the  fallen  leaves  float  under  it 
with  the  current,  just  as  in  a  Japanese  picture.  That 
is  the  marvel  of  it  all  ;  the  whole  scene  "  composes" 
like  a  picture — no  rock,  no  branch  out  of  place,  yet 
with  such  an  innocent  air  of  having  "just  growed" 
that  you  can  hardly  believe  (though  you  know  it  per- 
fectly well)  that  every  twig  has  been  trimmed,  trained 
and  brought  to  this  easy  artlessuess  by  the  most  con- 
summate art. 

But  that  is  just  the  theory  of  Japanese  gardening — 
to  render  nature  at  her  best,  in  some  one  mood  appro- 
priate to  the  place.  The  Japanese  gardener  loves  best 
to  choose  some  famous  locality,  and  to  suggest  its  fea- 
tures in  his  com  position,  tuning  all  to  some  given  key, 


OJI  MAPLES.  213 

whether  stern,  or  gentle,  cheerful,  pensive.  One  style 
he  thinks  suitable  for  the  dwelling  of  a  philosopher, 
another  for  the  warrior,  the  statesman,  or  the  man  of 
affairs ;  and  there  are  minutest  rules  for  all  this  occult 
symbolism. 

It  is  a  very  old  art  in  Japan,  this  landscape  garden- 
ing, and  probably  has  borrowed  very  much  from  still 
older  models  in  China  and  Korea.  Most  of  its  laws 
have  come  down  from  the  eha-no-yn  (tea  ceremony) 
devotees  of  the  period  of  the  Ashikaga  Shogunate,  in 
the  fourteenth  century,  and  though  they  vary  widely 
in  detail,  the  ideal  of  all  is  the  same.  A  Japanese 
writer  on  the  subject  says  :  "  In  laying  out  grounds, 
the  general  features  of  a  view  may  be  sublime,  beau- 
tiful and  tranquil,  according  to  the  style  of  buildings 
to  which  the  garden  is  to  be  attached.  The  idea  of  a 
garden  demands  cleanliness  " — by  which  I  understand 
him  to  mean  neatness,  freedom  from  undergrowth  or 
litter.  "  Pleasing  verdure  among  the  trees,  fresh 
mosses  around  the  fountain,  should  be  set  in  such  a 
way  as  to  show  ideal  beauty.  Calmness  is  required 
also,  but  care  must  be  taken  not  to  render  it  monot- 
onous. Foliage  should  be  kept  green  and  dewy,  with- 
out being  too  dense.  A  grove  that  casts  gloominess 
over  the  surrounding  scene  may  have  its  place  in  a 
certain  corner  of  the  garden,  but  it  is  not  appropriate 
in  a  conspicuous  spot,  the  chief  aim  of  a  garden  being 
to  give  delight  and  comfort.  Care  is  needed  to  avoid 
a  crowded  air  in  small  gardens,  and  in  large  ones  a 


214  JAPAN. 

scanty  and  insufficient  look."  He  quotes  an  old 
authority  on  the  art :  "  For  a  particular  view  from  the 
drawing-room  or  library,  plan  a  garden  to  suit  the 
building,  and  for  villas  and  pavilions  design  a  garden 
as  though  the  building  was  placed  there  for  the  sake 
of  that  particular  bit  of  wild  landscape."  1 

In  laying  out  such  a  design  the  first  step  is  to  place 
the  "  chief  stone/'  or  "  chief  tree,"  which  is  to  be 
as  it  were  the  keynote  for  the  composition ;  the  next 
is  to  arrange  the  height  of  the  artificial  hill,  if  there 
is  to  be  one,  and  the  width  and  shape  of  stream  or 
lake,  and  finally  reach  the  placing  of  subordinate  trees, 
stones  and  masses  of  green.  According  to  most 
authorities,  it  is  proper  to  begin  with  the  front  and 
then  work  up  the  background,  leaving  the  middle 
distance,  as  a  painter  would  say,  until  the  last.  The 
idea  of  such  a  place  is  a  panel  picture,  to  be  viewed 
from  some  one  point.  The  stones  are  thought  of  as 
the  frame  on  which  the  whole  is  built  up,  and  so  their 
placing  must  come  before  the  planting  of  trees.  "  The 
ancients  believed  in  having  stones  nine  in  number, 
four  straight  and  five  flat  ones,  as  a  charm  to  drive 
away  evil  spirits.  However,  putting  aside  that 
Buddhist  superstition,  this  form  is  to  be  complied 
with ;  for,  without  these  nine  stones,  a  garden  will  not 
look  formal." 

A  flat  garden — that  is  to  say,  one  in  which  there 
are  no  mounds — should  depend  rather  on  stones  than 
»  "  The  Far  East,"  1897. 


OJI   MAPLES.  215 

trees,  and  a  well  and  stone  lantern  are  important  fea- 
tures. These  quaint,  graceful,  stone  lanterns,  which 
are  such  characteristic  ornaments  of  Japanese  gar- 
dens, are  borrowed  from  the  temples,  where  both 
Buddhists  and  Shintoists  use  them  freely.  They  are 
hardly  intended  to  illuminate  anything,  though  at  the 
temples,  and  even  in  private  gardens,  lights  are  some- 
times placed  in  them  at  certain  festivals.  An  opening 
like  a  crescent  moon  is  a  favorite  device  for  the  side, 
or  the  hole  may  be  flower-shaped,  or  plain  round  or 
square.  The  form  of  the  lantern  varies,  from  the 
slender  tope,  with  lotus  petals  around  the  base  and 
upper  corners  curled  back,  to  a  funny,  low,  flat  thing 
on  four  legs,  rather  like  the  hat  of  the  "  Grand  Pan- 
jandrum himself,  with  a  little  round  button  on  top." 
A  stone  basin  for  washing  the  hands  is  often  placed  in 
the  garden ;  it  may  be  elaborately  carved,  or  merely 
hollowed  out  of  a  large  rough  boulder,  propped  on 
another  stone.  A  dipper  hangs  beside  to  pour  the 
water  over  the  hands  ;  paper  to  dry  them  every  one 
is  expected  to  carry. 

Private  gardens,  though  tiny,  are  often  beautiful 
specimens  of  the  art.  In  a  word,  a  landscape  is 
thought  of  as  a  picture,  and  follows  out  all  the  rules 
of  Japanese  composition,  which  are,  chiefly,  simplicity 
and  restraint,  and  the  subordination  of  all  the  parts  to 
a  dominant  idea. 

The  most  artificial  specimens  are  generally  to  be 
found    near    the    smaller    temples,    where   space    is 


216  JAPAN. 

restricted  and  trees  have  been  proportionately  dwarfed 
or  trimmed  to  fantastic  shapes,  and  planted  among 
bristling  rocks  which  suggest  the  haunts  of  hermit 
saints,  like  those  seated  meditating  beside  lonely 
waterfalls  in  religious  pictures  of  the  Kano  school. 

One  of  the  quaintest  of  these  is  the  famous  Wis- 
taria garden  at  Kameido.  It  is  in  the  enclosure  of 
the  temple  of  Tenjin,  God  of  Writing,  who  in  this 
life  was  Sugiwara  Michizane,  the  faithful  prime 
minister  of  the  Emperor  Uda.  The  thousandth 
anniversary  of  Michizane' s  death  falls  in  1902,  and 
a  society  of  the  hero-deity's  admirers  are  said  to  be 
preparing  for  a  grand  celebration,  part  of  which  will 
doubtless  be  held  at  Kameido.  It  is  a  queer,  ram- 
bling old  place,  adorned  with  a  big  stone  tortoise, 
lcame  (whence  the  name),  and  quaint  figures  of  the 
cow  on  which  Michizane  rode  during  his  exile  in 
Kiushiu.  Fish-ponds  fill  half  the  space,  and  beside 
and  over  them  are  bamboo  trellises,  on  which  the  gar- 
deners have  trained  the  Wistaria  vines  into  a  roof, 
making  all  the  flowers  grow  inside  and  the  leaves  on 
top.  Instead  of  having  short,  full  bunches,  like  the 
wild  vines  on  the  mountains,  the  flowers  trail  down  a 
stem  three  to  four  feet  long,  and  when  the  wind  blows 
all  the  stems  sway  and  tremble  together  like  a  waver- 
ing purple  veil.  Between  the  ponds  little  paths  and 
bridges  lead  from  one  pavilion  to  another,  and  matted 
platforms  are  built  out  over  the  water,  where  people 
sit  and  admire  the  vines  and  feed  rice-biscuits  to  the 


OJI   MAPLES.  217 

fat,  lazy  carp,  which  seem  to  have  just  enough  energy 
to  stir  up  the  water  and  keep  it  always  turbid.  Of 
course,  there  are  plenty  of  stalls  all  about  for  the  sale 
of  omiyagi  —  souvenirs — small  pottery  tortoises,  and 
monkeys  and  pigeons,  and  paper  toys,  and  cakes,  and 
children's  hairpins,  made  of  tiny  bunches  of  Wistaria 
between  dangling  scraps  of  tinsel.  The  temple  itself 
is  not  particularly  remarkable ;  in  front  of  it  there  is 
a  queer  round  bridge,  something  of  a  feat  to  scramble 
over  on  wooden  clogs,  and  they  who  cross  it  honor 
Tenjin — just  how  is  not  apparent,  except  that  he  is  an 
energetic  divinity,  who  approves  of  overcoming  diffi- 
culties. Near  by  is  a  plum  tree,  grown  from  a  slip  of 
the  one  which  flew  over  to  the  exiled  Michizane  from 
his  garden  in  Kyoto. 

Perhaps  it  is  the  muddy  water,  or  the  clatter  and 
dust  of  many  wooden  shoas,  and  the  cheap  toys  and 
tinsel ;  somehow,  in  spite  of  the  beauty  of  the  Wis- 
tarias, there  is  an  air  of  tawdriness  and  artificiality 
about  Kameido ;  the  very  flowers  seem  forced  and 
unnatural,  like  wild-birds  caged.  One  likes  better  to 
think  of  the  vines  as  they  grow  in  the  Hakone  moun- 
tains or  about  Lake  Chuzenji,  where  the  real  monkeys 
swing  on  the  long  cables  looped  from  tree  to  tree,  and 
the  flowers  cluster  freely  in  short,  sturdy  bunches. 

But  where  there  is  plenty  of  space  there  is  seldom 
any  distortion  or  unreality,  as  on  the  hillsides  at 
Nikko,  for  instance,  or  at  Count  Okuma's  beautiful 
home,  Waseda,  which  has  wide  lawns  like  an  English 


218  JAPAN. 

country  seat ;  or  at  the  finest  of  all,  Mito  Yashiki, 
which  is  an  ideal  specimen  of  landscape  art  in  Japan 
— or  indeed  anywhere. 

These  Yedo  yashiki  were  very  complex  affairs. 
The  space,  which  was  several  acres,  was  enclosed  by  a 
solid  row  of  houses  on  each  of  the  four  sides,  broken 
only  by  the  great  gate  and  its  flanking  lodges  and  a 
smaller  entrance  on  another  side  for  the  lesser  mem- 
bers of  the  establishment  and  visitors  of  low  rank. 
These  houses  stood  on  stone-faced  embankments,  and 
were  commonly  built  of  tiles  set  edgewise  in  a  bed  of 
plaster,  as  I  have  described  elsewhere ;  and  though 
by  no  means  fireproof,  they  were  much  less  combusti- 
ble than  an  ordinary  Japanese  house.  The  openings 
on  the  side  toward  the  street  were  small  and  closed 
with  bars.  The  hollow  square  formed  by  these  build- 
ings contained  the  residence  of  the  Daimyo  and  his 
chief  retainers,  and  the  gardens,  target  range,  fencing 
ground,  and  so  forth,  while  the  enclosing  houses  were 
occupied  by  the  lesser  Samurai.  This  was  the  Kami- 
yashiki,  or  castle  of  the  prince  himself,  and,  besides 
this,  most  Daimyo  had  a  second  or  even  five  or  six 
residences  for  his  numerous  retainers  in  Yedo. 

While  the  greater  part  of  these  yashiki  have  been 
cut  up  or  allowed  to  go  to  ruin,  that  of  the  Prince  of 
Mito  has  happily  remained  untouched,  at  least  as  far 
as  the  grounds  are  concerned.  After  the  Restoration 
the  place  was  made  over  to  the  imperial  government, 
and  the  buildings  torn   down   to   make   way  for  the 


OJI   MAPLES.  219 

arsenal ;  but  the  park  was  spared  and  is  kept  in  order 
out  of  sheer  love  of  beauty  and  reverence  for  associa- 
tion. It  is  used  now  and  then  for  garden  parties 
among  the  military  and  naval  set,  and  foreigners  are 
admitted  to  see  it  on  certain  days  and  by  special  per- 
mits obtained  through  their  respective  legations,  and 
are  conducted  through  in  state  by  one  of  the  officers 
in  charge  of  the  arsenal. 

The  grounds  were  laid  out,  they  say,  by  one  of 
the  Chinese  scholars  who  fled  to  Japan  after  the 
downfall  of  the  Ming  dynasty,  and  were  received  and 
patronized  by  the  Prince  of  Mito  and  others,  much 
as  the  Medici  entertained  refugee  Greeks  from  Con- 
stantinople not  many  years  earlier.  This  was  Mito 
Komon,  grandson  of  Ieyasu,  and  ancestor  of  that 
Mito  Nariaki  whose  clansmen  killed  the  Regent  li 
Kamon  no  Kami.  Komon,  by  the  way,  was  that 
very  Prince  of  Mito  whose  historical  and  literary 
studies  and  writings  had  so  much  to  do  with  bringing 
on  the  agitation  on  behalf  of  the  Mikado's  rights, 
which  brought  about  the  fall  of  the  Shogunate ;  and, 
besides  refugee  Chinese,  he  maintained  a  host  of 
Japanese  savants,  both  in  Yedo  and  at  his  provincial 
capital  at  Mito,  fifty  miles  northeast  of  Yedo,  employ- 
ing them  in  giving  lectures  and  in  researches  for  his 
great  history,  the  Dal  Nikon  Shi.  He  was  also  one 
of  the  first  to  establish  the  clan-schools  for  the  educa- 
tion of  young  Samurai,  which  sprang  up  during  the 
seventeenth  century  in  nearly  every  province. 


220  JAPAN- 

There  is  no  dwarfing  at  Mito  Yashiki ;  trees  cen- 
turies old  grow  about  the  slopes,  and  they  point  out 
one  group  of  silvery  pines,  with  that  rough,  mot- 
tled bark  like  a  turtle's  back,  which  Japanese  artists 
paint  so  lovingly,  and  tell  you  that  nothing  is  known 
of  them  but  that  they  were  well-grown  trees  when 
the  Chinese  expert  planned  the  grounds  three  hundred 
years  ago.  Deep  woodland  paths  wind  over  the  hill, 
where  ferns  grow  among  the  rocks  as  if  they  were  far 
away  in  the  Hakone  mountains.  Following  the  sound 
of  water  you  come  upon  a  little  stream  foiling  in  a 
cascade  among  overhanging  trees  and  vines  and  pass- 
ing into  a  clear  lake ;  beyond  lies  a  lovely  little 
meadow,  bordered  with  iris,  and  in  the  midst  of  the 
meadow  stands  a  great  drooping  cherry  tree,  which 
hancrs  down  its  branches  like  a  weeping  willow  and 
clouds  them  in  April  with  a  gray-pink  veil  of  bloom. 
But  the  charm  of  the  garden  is  not  intended  only  for 
the  eye ;  to  a  Japanese  every  part  of  the  landscape 
offers  a  picture,  a  suggestion,  from  some  scene  of  his- 
tory or  romance,  for  each  turn  and  rock  and  bridge 
is  arranged  to  represent  a  well-known  spot,  as  the 
officer  who  conducts  visitors  will  explain  to  those  who 
have  ears  to  "hear. 

A  little  boat  is  tied  at  the  landing  by  the  meadow, 
and  the  tea-house  on  the  slope  stands  ready  for  a  cha- 
no-yu  party,  as  if  the  Samurai  and  the  sages  had 
departed  but  yesterday.  Save  for  a  far-away  beat  of 
steam-hammers,    the   place    is   absolutely    still.     The 


OJI   MAPLES.  221 

uguisu  warble  in  the  thickets,  the  dragon-flies  skim 
across  the  lake,  and  sparrows  twitter  under  the  eaves 
where  the  knights  used  to  lay  aside  their  swords  to 
write  poems  and  drink  tea.  You  cannot  guess  how  far 
you  have  wandered  among  the  winding  paths,  or 
dream  that  a  hundred  feet  away  the  hill  you  climbed 
under  the  sighing  pine  trees  drops  a  sheer  wall  upon 
one  of  the  busiest  streets  in  the  city.  But  that  is 
Japanese  landscape  gardening  in  its  perfection. 

Of  course,  all  this  handling  of  the  ground  as  if  it 
were  paint  and  paper,  implies  an  unlimited  amount  of 
human  labor  at  command.  Griffis  gives  an  example 
of  the  way  it  could  be  done,  as  late  as  1870,  and 
indeed  one  marvels  at  the  transformations  effected  even 
now,  when  the  cost  of  labor  has  increased  enormously. 
A  friend  of  Mr.  Griffis,  who  was  in  the  agricultural 
department,  was  looking  for  a  site  for  a  model  farm. 
One  piece  of  property  offered  was  part  of  an  ex- 
Daimyo's  yashiki,  which  had  been  allowed  to  go  to 
waste  till  it  was  so  overgrown  with  trees  and  bushes 
that  the  American  refuse;l  it,  saying  it  would  take 
years  to  bring  it  to  a  fit  condition.  "  The  Japanese 
officer  in  charge  immediately  and  quietly  hired  eight 
hundred  laborers  to  clear  and  smooth  the  land.  They 
worked  in  relays,  night  and  day.  In  a  week's  time  he 
showed  the  American  'a  new  site/  with  which  lie  was 
delighted.  The  actual  energy  of  eight  hundred  pairs 
of  arms  developed  a  wilderness  into  leveled  farm- 
lands within  a  week."     ("The   Mikado's    Empire.") 


222  JAPAN. 

Of  course,  the  advantage  to  the  Japanese  was  that  a 
comparatively  useless  piece  of  land  could  be  sold  to 
the  government  at  a  fancy  price. 

I  have  strayed  very  far  from  the  banks  of  the  Taki- 
no-gawa  and  the  delighted  crowd  who  are  admiring 
"  Tatsuta  Hime's  dress."  Tatsuta  Hime  is  the  God- 
dess of  Autumn,  and  the  turning  leaves  are  the  bro- 
cade which  she  dyes  and  weaves.  So  a  poet  cries 
sadly : 

"My  wandering  tread 
Doth  rudely  tear 
The  carpet  red 
Of  rich  brocade 
On  Miraura  spread." 

Another,  still  more  considerate,  will  admire  from 
afar  rather  than  mar  the  beauty  of  Tatsuta,  which  is 
here  both  a  river  and  a  goddess : 

"  Tatsuta's  bravely  arrayed 

With  autumn's  brightest  weaving; 
If  I  should  cross  the  stream, 

Princess  Tatsuta'll  be  grieving 
Over  her  rent  brocade." 

At  Oji,  as  at  all  such  places,  little  platforms  are 
dotted  down  here  and  there  at  the  most  attractive 
points,  where  picnic  parties  sit  to  drink  tea — there  is 
always  an  old  woman  on  hand  with  a  tea-kettle  in 
Japan.  Here  and  there  a  group  of  students  or  a 
scholarly  old  gentleman  are  adding  to  the  supply  of 


OJI   MAPLES.  223 

poems  fluttering  on  some  favorite  tree,  or  seated  apart, 
with  chin  ecstatically  raised,  give  themselves  up  to  the 
thrills  of  composition.  There  are  many  conventional 
phrases  and  similes  which  can  be  made  use  of  to  help 
out  the  muse  on  such  occasions.  Thus  deer  and  maple 
are  always  paired  in  Japanese  art  and  poetry,  which 
delights  in  such  combinations,  though  not  more  so, 
perhaps,  than  we,  who  systematically  put  bees  in 
clover  and  owls  in  ivy-mantled  towers.  In  autumn, 
they  say,  the  stag's  cry  becomes  mournful,  and  the 
poet  proceeds  to  gaze  at  the  moon  and  compose  a 
thirty-one  syllabled  verse,  such  as  this  : 


"  When  dead  leaves  fly, 

The  hart's  sad  cry 
Our  hearts  with  sorrow  fills." 


The  tea-house  at  Oji  is  a  capital  place  to  get  a 
Japanese  meal ;  the  food  is  excellent  and  the  service 
good,  unless  they  are  too  very  full  and  rushed 
with  guests.  Chestnuts,  boiled  with  sweet  potatoes, 
mashed  and  sweetened,  are  an  appropriate  dish  for  the 
maple  season,  and  pink-tipped  slices  of  raw  tai — best 
of  Japanese  fishes — and  golden  persimmons  to  follow 
the  meal.  The  house  stands  beside  the  river  below 
the  gorge,  and  the  prettiest  rooms  look  out  on  the 
water.  Not  only  in  the  fall,  but  in  spring,  too,  the 
maples  are  lovely,  especially  those  small  varieties  which 
are  so  much  used  as  shrubbery  in  America ;  the  blend- 


224  JAPAN. 

ing  of  pinks  and  pale  greens  has  an  unusual  charm  in 
a  country  where  half  the  trees  never  drop  their  leaves 
at  all,  but  go  on  pushing  out  new  buds  among  the 
old.  (i  Frogs'  hands  "  the  Japanese  call  these  slender 
leaves,  the  delicate  texture  and  strong  veins  making 
them  think  of  what  to  us  would  be  a  very  "  moist, 
unpleasant"  association,  particularly  so  when  they  go 
on  to  call  a  girl's  pretty  little  hand  a  maple  leaf!  I 
suppose  they  forget  the  frog,  or  else  they  don't  mind 
him.  These  spring  maples  will  not  do  to  cut ;  but  in 
the  fall,  among  the  trinkets  and  toys  which  they  dis- 
play near  the  gate,  there  will  be  choice  branches  to 
sell  to  the  visitors,  and  the  young  men  in  particular 
are  sure  to  purvey  themselves  each  a  bough  to  carry 
over  his  shoulder  as  he  returns  by  train  or  kuruma,  or 
very  possibly  afoot,  the  five  miles  back  to  Tokyo. 

Maple-viewing  is  a  very  old  custom,  even  older, 
perhaps,  than  the  cherry-cult,  which  is  attributed  to  a 
certain  Emperor  of  the  eighth  century.  The  follow- 
ing legend  has  a  flavor  of  still  greater  antiquity, 
thoiudi  the  names  and  the  date  ascribed  are  of  the 
eleventh  century  : 

One  autumn  day  a  knight  of  the  Taira  family  went 
out  with  one  serving-man  to  view  the  maples  on  a 
certain  mountain.  As  he  rode  up  the  lonely  path  he 
was  surprised  to  see  a  very  beautiful  lady  and  her 
attendants,  who  had  hung  up  a  silken  curtain  under  an 
especially  fine  tree  and  were  preparing  a  picnic  meal. 
Not  wishing  to  disturb  them,  the  courteous  knight  got 


OJI   MAPLES.  225 

down  from  his  horse  and  took  off  his  shoes  (s/c, 
doubtless  the  sort  worn  for  riding),  intending  to  pass 
quietly  by  a  little  footpath  among  the  rocks.  But  the 
lady  saw  him,  and.  calling  out,  bade  him  not  incom- 
mode himself  to  leave  the  road,  but  rather  to  stop  a 
little  and  share  their  feast.  Sir  Taira  could  not  well 
refuse  so  pleasing  an  invitation ;  so  he  seated  himself 
under  the  tree  and  received  the  cup  of  wine  which 
she  pressed  into  his  hands.  But  no  sooner  did  he 
drink  than  both  he  and  his  servant  fell  into  a  deep 
sleep.  Then,  as  he  slept,  an  old  gray-headed  man 
appeared  to  him  in  his  dreams  and  bade  him  rise  up, 
for  he  was  in  deadly  peril.  So,  starting  suddenly 
awake,  Sir  Taira  heard  thunder  crashing  about  him 
and  saw  the  beautiful  lady  changed  into  a  horrible 
demon,  who  glared  at  him  with  burning  eyes  ;  and  her 
attendants  were  fierce  little  devils,  dancing  and  breath- 
ing out  smoke  and  fire  among  the  rocks.  Such  a  ter- 
rible sight,  says  the  legend,  might  well  have  frightened 
an  ordinary  man  out  of  his  senses,  but  the  brave  Sir 
Taira  drew  his  sword,  and,  after  a  tremendous  fight, 
he  killed  the  demons,  every  one  ! 

Japanese  stories  are  always  intended  to  point  a 
moral,  so  I  suppose  clemency  is  the  virtue  taught  by 
the  story  of  "  The  Emperor  and  the  Broken  Maple 
Trees."  The  hero  of  it  is  one  of  those  pathetic  figures, 
so  numerous  in  Eastern  history,  a  child-emperor  raised 
to  the  throne,  to  be  the  tool  of  others,  and  forced  to 
resign  just  as  he  reached  manhood ;  and  this  Taka- 
Vol,.  I. — 15 


226  JAPAN. 

kura's  case  was  made  still  harder  by  the  arrogant  be- 
havior of  his  prime  minister,  the  Taira  chief  Kiyo- 
mori — the  same  who  slew  all  the  Minamoto,  except  the 
lad  Yoritomo  and  his  brothers. 

The  Emperor  Takakura,  then,  had  two  little  potted 
maple  trees  of  which  he  was  particularly  fond  ;  and 
that  they  might  be  well  cared  for  he  put  them  in 
charge  of  one  of  his  gentlemen,  named  Nobunari. 
And  Nobunari  guarded  them  as  if  with  his  life,  taking 
them  home  every  night,  and  carrying  them  to  the 
palace  every  day.  But  one  cold  evening,  while  he  was 
obliged  to  be  absent,  some  of  his  servants  came  in  and 
sat  down  to  drink ;  and  getting  rather  fuddled,  they 
broke  off  the  little  maple  trees  and  used  them  to  kindle 
the  fire  by  which  they  Avere  warming  their  wine. 
When  the  master  came  back  and  looked  for  the  pre- 
cious trees,  his  wrath  and  terror  were  unspeakable; 
however,  the  only  thing  to  do  was  to  confess  all,  so  off 
to  the  palace  he  went,  expecting  nothing  less  than  ban- 
ishment. But  when  the  young  Emperor  heard  the 
tale,  he  comforted  Nobunari,  saying  kindly,  "  Remem- 
ber what  Hakuraku,  the  Chinese  poet,  did  when  he  went 
to  view  the  maples  of  Senyuji ;  even  as  his  poem  says  : 

"  '  I  kindled  a  fire  of  the  fallen  leaves 
To  warm  my  wine. 
I  cleared  the  stone  of  its  mossy  coat, 
And  on  nature's  tablet  my  verse  I  wrote.' 

"Let  thy  servants  go;   they  have  but  emulated  the 

poet." 


CHAPTER   XV. 

KARUIZAWA   AND    THE    WEST    COAST. 

In  the  old  times  there  were  two  great  highways 
between  the  Kwansei  and  the  Kwanto — the  Home 
Provinces  about  Kyoto  and  the  EiHit  Provinces  north 
of  the  Hakone  mountains ;  they  were  the  Eastern  Sea 
Road,  Tokaido,  which  goes  southward  by  Yokohama, 
and  crosses  the  Hakone  pass,  and  the  Central  Moun- 
tain Road,  Nakasendo.  They  started  together  at  Sanjo 
bridge,  in  Kyoto,  and  ended  at  Nihonbashi,  in  Yedo — 
it  was  Yedo  still  in  those  days  when  the  Daimyo  and 
their  trains  used  to  march  up  from  their  provinces, 
following  the  coast  or  keeping  inland  by  these  moun- 
tain passes.  There  was  a  third  road,  the  Hokuroku- 
do,  which  went  by  way  of  Kaga  and  the  other  west 
coast  provinces,  but  it  was  out  of  the  way  and  com- 
paratively little  used.  Not  always  peaceful  retinues 
came  over  these  roads ;  plenty  of  fighting  there  was, 
little  feuds  and  great  struggles  involving  the  whole 
empire,  such  as  the  battle  of  Sekigahara  on  the  lower 
Xakasendo — counted  now  part  of  the  Tokaido  railroad 
— where  Ieyasu  won  his  decisive  victory,  and  began 
the  two   hundred   and  fifty  years  of  the    Tokugawa 

227 


228  JAPAN. 

Shogunate.  Indeed,  in  those  days  there  was  more 
effort  to  impede  travel  than  to  promote  it;  at  the 
border  line,  where  the  roads  crossed  from  one  province 
to  another,  there  were  barriers  kept  by  armed  guards, 
who  let  no  one  by  without  credentials,  and  to  go  from 
one  Daimyo's  country  to  another,  and  perhaps  hostile 
one,  was  no  easy  matter. 

There  is  no  actual  record  of  the  Nakasendo  until 
the  eighth  century,  but  there  is  good  reason  to  believe 
that  some  kind  of  a  known  track  must  have  existed 
hereabouts  very  much  sooner.  Certainly  the  account 
of  the  adventures  of  Prince  Yamato-take,  when  he 
came  through  this  way  after  his  conquering  expedition, 
though  full  of  preternatural  marvels,  at  least  points  to 
definite  travel  over  the  mountains  at  an  early  period. 

The  whole  central  region  is  full  of  legends  of  this 
hero  prince,  Achilles-like  in  his  bravery  and  beauty, 
and  the  sorrow  woven  in  his  short  thread  of  fate.  He 
was  the  son  of  the  Emperor  Keiko,  the  twelfth  in  line 
from  Jimmu  Tenno,  the  first  Emperor,  and  his  accepted 
date  is  the  beginning  of  the  second  century.  In  those 
days  the  tribes  living  in  the  mountains  and  the  neigh- 
boring islands  were  only  half  in  subjection  to  the 
Yamato  Son  of  Heaven,  and  there  were  frequent  re- 
volts, which  the  Emperor  often  went  out  to  subdue  in 
person  ;  so  that  when  the  prince  came  of  age  there  was 
no  lack  of  foes  for  his  steel. 

According  to  legend,  Yamato-take  was  just  sixteen 
at  the  time  of  his  first  exploit.     A  tribe  or  clan  in  the 


KARUIZAWA   AND  THE  WEST  COAST.        229 

island  of  Kiushiu,  the  Kumaso,  rose  against  the  Em- 
peror's authority,  and  the  prince  took  a  band  of 
knights  to  meet  them.  When  they  reached  the  place, 
Yamato-take  got  into  the  camp  disguised  as  a  girl — 
according  to  one  account  he  borrowed  the  dress  from 
his  aunt,  the  high  priestess  of  Ise— and  danced  and 
sang  and  coquetted  so  well  that  the  delighted  lords  fell 
to  disputing  as  to  which  should  possess  the  charming 
damsel.  The  chief  himself  settled  the  matter  by 
taking  her  by  the  hand  and  leading  her  into  his  own 
tent;  but  like  the  Norse  giant,  who  wedded  Thor  in- 
stead of  Freya,  the  Kumaso  lord  found  himself  seized 
by  wiry  young  arms,  and  the  prince's  sword  came  out 
from  under  the  spangled  robe.  Then  the  Yamato 
knights  rushed  in  on  the  drunken  revelers,  and  utterly 
destroyed  them. 

The  South  being  thus  quieted,  Prince  Yamato-take 
went  forth  to  conquer  the  Emishi,  who  were  troubling 
Ise  and  Owari.  His  father  gave  him  a  spear  eight 
fathoms  long,  and  sent  two  trusty  lords  as  guards  and 
councilors.  When  he  drew  near  the  shrine  of  his  an- 
cestor the  Sun  Goddess,  at  Ise,  he  left  his  sword  under 
a  tree  and  went  up  to  worship ;  and  his  aunt,  the  high 
priestess,  who  seems  to  have  been  a  very  useful  rela- 
tive, gave  him  the  sacred  sword  Cloud-Compeller, 
which  was  in  her  care  at  the  shrine.  This  sword  was 
the  one  which  the  Sun  Goddess  gave  to  her  grandson 
Ninigi,  grandfather  of  Jimmu  Tenno>  when  she  sent 
him  down  to  earth  to  make  order  among  the  warring 


230  ^PAN. 

gods  and  demi-gods.     Amaterasu  had  it  from  her  rude 
brother  Susa-no-o,  who  took  it  from  the  tail  of  the 
dragon  with  eight  heads.     This  dreadful  beast  haunted 
the  mountains,  and  took  a  meal  as  he  felt  disposed 
from  among  the  fairest  daughters  of  the  earth-gods, 
who  seem  to  have  been  quite  helpless  against   him. 
When   Susa-no-o  was  banished  from  heaven  for  his 
bad  behavior  to  his  sister  Amaterasu,  the  Sun  God- 
dess, in  his  wanderings  he  came  upon  the  parents  of  a 
beautiful  maiden  who  were  in  great  distress  because  of 
the  dragon ;  so  Susa-no-o  told  them  to  make  a  heavy 
fence,  having  eight  gates,  and  at  each  gate  to  set  a 
tub  ;  and  he  brewed  sake  and  filled  the  eight  tubs,  and 
lav  down  to  watch.     By  and  by  the  dragon  came  and 
smelled  the  sake,  and  first  one  head  drank,  and  then 
another,  and  when  they  were  all  eight  asleep  Susa-no-o 
sprang  up  and  cut  the  heads  off  one  by  one  and  hacked 
the  dragon  to  pieces.     But  when  he  struck  the  tail  his 
sword  broke,  and,  looking  closely,  he  saw  something 
shining  in  the  tail ;    he  drew  it  out,  and  found  it  to 
be  a  sword  of  marvelous  beauty ;  and  he  took  it  away 
and  gave  it  to  his  sister  as  a  peace  offering.     This,  with 
the  mirror  and  the  jewel,  were  the  "  three  treasures  " 
which  Amaterasu  gave  to  her  grandson,  and  they  are 
the  imperial  insignia  of  Japan.     The  first  Emperors 
kept  them  in  the  palace;  but  fearing  lest  harm  should 
come  to  the  precious  things,  the  tenth  Emperor,  Sujin, 
had  fac-similes  made  and  kept  them  in  the  treasury ; 
but  the  real  ones  he  sent  to  a  temple  in  Yamato,  and 


KARUIZAWA   AND  THE  WEST  COAST.        231 

afterwards  to  Ise.  The  mirror  is  still  at  the  shrine, 
but  the  sword  has  been  removed,  and  is  in  a  temple  at 
Atsuta,  near  Nagoya. 

Armed  with  the  Cloud-Compel  ler,  Prince  Yamato- 
take  went  northward,  and  was  everywhere  victorious. 
And  once,  as  he  crossed  a  desolate  moor,  the  Emishi 
kindled  a  lire  in  the  long  grass,  so  that  the  flames 
threatened  to  destroy  the  prince  and  all  his  company ; 
but  he  cried  to  Amaterasu,  and  cut  the  grass  about  him 
with  the  magic  sword,  and  the  wind  veered  suddenly 
and  blew  the  flames  back  against  the  enemy.  So,  in 
gratitude,  Yamato-take  changed  the  name  of  the  sword 
to  Grass-Mower. 

Subduing  all  the  country  around  Sagami  bay,  they 
crossed  the  Hakone  mountains  and  came  down  to  the 
Izu  peninsula  and  the  shores  of  Yedo  bay  ;  and  here 
at  Uraga  the  distance  looked  so  small  across  to  Awa 
that  the  prince  made  some  careless  jest,  never  guessing 
how  the  squalls  rise  and  the  tide  races  through  the 
narrow  channel.  But  Kompira,  the  sea-god,  heard 
and  was  angry,  and  he  raised  a  terrible  storm  against 
the  ships,  so  that  they  were  almost  overwhelmed. 
Now  the  Princess  Ota  Tachibana,  his  wife,  went  with 
Yamato-take  on  all  his  expeditions,  and  when  she 
saw  that  there  was  no  more  hope,  she  made  prayer  to 
the  sea-god  and  cast  herself  into  the  waves,  and  they 
were  still ;  and  the  prince  and  his  fleet  crossed  in 
safety.  The  next  day  the  princess'  comb  was  washed 
ashore,  and    the    prince   built  a  little  temple  to  her 


232  JAPAN. 

memory  at  the  place  where  it  was  found,  before  going 
on  to  finish  his  task.  Coasting  northward,  he  set  a 
mirror  on  the  prow  of  his  ship,  and  the  sun  dazzling 
on  it  struck  the  Emishi  with  terror,  so  that  they  came 
down  to  the  shore  and  made  submission. 

Many  other  adventures  Yamato-take  had ;  but  at 
last  he  came  up  from  the  coast  and  crossed  over  where 
the  Nakasendo  goes  among  the  passes  of  the  moun- 
tains, aud  so  back  to  his  own  country  again.  And 
when  he  came  to  the  top  of  the  Usui  pass  and  looked 
back  over  the  great  plain,  and  even  to  Yedo  bay,  he 
cried  aloud,  aAzuma,  Azuma  wa  ya  !" — My  wife, 
alas,  my  wife  !  Therefore  it  is  that  in  poetry  the 
Tokyo  plain  is  called  Azuma  till  this  day. 

But  it  was  terribly  cold  in  the  mountains,  and  the 
mountain  spirits,  angry  at  their  coming,  sent  out 
blinding  mists  and  poisonous  volcanic  gas,  so  that  the 
knights  fainted  in  the  path ;  and  these  evil  Kami 
appeared  to  them  in  the  shape  of  a  white  deer,  wish- 
ing to  lead  them  astray.  But  Yamato-take  threw  wild 
garlic  in  its  eyes  and  killed  it,  and  he  and  his  men  ate 
the  garlic  and  were  saved  from  the  choking  vapors ; 
and  a  white  dog,  which  was  a  good  Kami,  led  them 
over  the  passes  into  the  safe  plain.  But  Yamato-take 
presently  fell  ill,  and  though  he  drank  of  the  "  spring 
of  recovery "  and  revived  a  little,  his  sickness  re- 
turned, and  he  could  only  reach  the  pine  tree  where 
he  left  his  own  sword,  and  took  it  again,  and  sent  his 
faithful   general  on   to   tell  the   Emperor  of  all   his 


KAEUIZAWA   AND  THE  WEST  COAST.        233 

victories.  Then  he  sought  to  reach  Ise,  hoping  to 
recover  at  the  holy  shrine;  but  he  died  upon  the  way, 
lying  under  a  tree  in  the  green  spring  fields. 

According  to  tradition,  the  Emperor  Keiko  made 
a  visit  to  all  the  regions  conquered  by  his  son,  and 
some  caves  near  the  Nakasendo  are  pointed  out  as 
the  place  where  he  lodged  on  the  way.  He  laid  down 
laws  for  the  new  country  and  appointed  governors 
from  the  princes  of  the  blood,  who  already  numbered 
seventy-seven ;  but  it  was  long  before  the  mountain 
parts  became  really  civilized.  Indeed,  to  this  day 
the  great  broken  table-land  which  fills  up  the  centre 
of  the  main  island  is  far  more  sparsely  populated,  as 
well  as  less  developed,  than  any  other  part  of  the 
empire,  except  in  the  north.  Tradition  lingers  long 
here;  stories  of  the  Tengu,  goblins  or  kobolds  who 
haunt  the  lonely  places;  strange  half-human  crea- 
tures, having  beaks  and  birds'  feathers,  or  else  extra- 
ordinarily long  noses,  which  are  the  delight  of  Japan- 
ese artists.  They  were  small,  and  very  brave  and 
active,  but  on  the  whole  not  unfriendly  beings.  It 
was  one  of  these  who,  according  to  the  legend,  taught 
the  exiled  boy,  Yoshitsune  of  Minamoto,  to  use  the 
sword.  The  two  met  one  day  on  a  mountain,  Kura- 
ma-yama,  six  miles  north  of  Kyoto,  near  the  monas- 
tery where  Yoshitsune  was  being  brought  up  in 
seclusion  from  warlike  studies.  Finding  the  lad 
quick  and  fearless,  the  Tengu  made  him  his  pupil, 
meeting  him  in    the   deep  forest,  and   teaching   him 


234  JAPAN. 

not  only  to  fence,  but  to  leap  and  bound  and  almost 
fly,  as  the  dwarfs  could.  Ogres,  too,  lived  in  caves 
among  the  rocks  —  spidery,  horrible  ogres,  which 
could  sprout  new  limbs  in  place  of  old  ones.  A  little 
to  one  side  of  the  Nakasendo  the  villagers  still  show 
the  place  where  one  lived  as  late  as  the  eleventh 
century,  and  stole  a  maiden  every  year  at  the  annual 
festival.  At  last  the  elders  decreed  that  every  man 
who  came  to  the  feast  should  have  a  mark  set  on  his 
forehead,  and  no  one  not  marked  should  be  allowed  to 
go  away ;  so  they  did  it,  and  one  stranger  was  found 
unmarked — an  ugly  fellow,  very  big  and  tall.  So  they 
promptly  cut  off  his  head,  and  at  once  the  body 
became  so  heavy  that  they  could  not  possibly  move 
it,  and  had  to  bury  it  where  it  lay,  raising  a  great 
mound.  The  most  amusing  point  in  the  story  is  that 
a  visit  to  the  grave  is  considered  very  good  for  head- 
ache. 

The  Nakasendo  is  often  called  the  Kiso-kaido, 
because  from  Gifu  onward  it  follows  the  valley  of 
the  picturesque  Kisogawa,  one  of  the  "  three  great 
rivers  "  of  Japan.  The  other  two  are  the  Tonegawa 
and  the  Shinanogawa,  and  all  three  rise  within  fifty 
miles  of  each  other,  in  the  central  mass  of  mountains, 
the  Tonegawa  coming  down  across  the  plain  of  Tokyo, 
and  emptying  by  one  arm  into  the  bay  of  Yedo,  and 
by  another  into  the  Pacific,  further  north;  and  the 
Shinano  flowing  almost  due  north  into  the  Sea  of 
Japan.     The  Kisogawa  rises  on  the  eastern  slopes  of 


KARUIZAWA   AND  THE  WEST  COAST.        235 

On  take,  an  extinct  volcano,  only  less  high  than  Fuji 
San,  and  considered  almost  as  sacred  j  from  there  it 
makes  its  way  through  the  mountains,  and  at  last  out 
and  across  the  plain  into  Owari  bay,  in  all  a  distance 
of  one  hundred  and  sixty-three  miles.  It  is  a  wild 
little  river,  always  liable  to  rise  in  floods  and  ruin 
miles  of  the  beautiful  Owari  plain.  In  feudal  times 
the  whole  region  along  its  upper  course  was  covered 
with  forests,  which  belonged  to  the  Daimyo  of  Owari, 
and  were  most  carefully  preserved ;  but  now  that  the 
land  has  passed  into  private  ownership,  the  peasants 
cut  as  they  please,  with  little  thought  of  the  future, 
and  the  only  tract  that  is  properly  cared  for  is  a  forest 
belonging  to  the  government. 

The  Torii  Toge  (pass)  is  so  named  from  the  torii, 
which  stands  at  its  highest  point,  put  there  in  honor 
of  the  god  of  Ontake.  Here  is  the  water-shed  between 
the  two  river  systems,  the  Kisogawa  flowing  down  to 
the  east  and  south,  and  the  Shinauo  and  its  many 
tributaries  rising  among  the  slopes  on  the  other  side. 
There  is  one  other  important  pass  on  the  road  besides 
the  Usui  Toge,  namely,  the  Wada  pass,  and  it  is  the 
longest  and  highest — over  five  thousand  feet.  The 
Nakasendo  is  kept  in  good  order  most  of.  the  year, 
and  a  jinrikisha  trip  over  it  can  be  made  in  five  days 
from  Gifu  to  Karuizawa  without  any  serious  difficulty. 
It  would  seem  more  natural  to  take  the  road  the  other 
way — down  instead  of  up — but  it  is  much  easier  to 
get  good  jinrikisha  men  at  Gifu ;  at  the  other  end  one 


236  JAPAN. 

could  only  take  one's  chance  of  catching  men  who 
had  just  brought  up  a  party,  and  might  or  might  not 
be  fresh  enough  to  run  well  the  other  way.  The 
ascent  is  so  great  that  at  least  two  men  apiece  are 
necessary,  and  even  so  it  is  needful  to  walk  up  some 
of  the  hills,  or  else  hire  extra  men.  The  views  all 
the  way  are  charming,  and  the  peasants  are  simple 
and  unspoiled  by  modern  civilization.  The  inns  are 
very  fair,  and  some  European  food  can  be  had  at 
most  of  them. 

The  Daimyo  of  the  west  coast  provinces  used  to 
come  up  from  their  side  to  meet  the  Nakasendo  at  the 
top  of  the  Usui  pass,  and  in  those  days  there  was 
quite  a  town  at  the  summit,  and  several  highly  aristo- 
cratic inns  for  the  accommodation  of  their  lordships 
and  their  lordships'  men.  But  in  1868  the  Shogunate 
was  done  away,  and  with  it  compulsory  residence  in 
Yedo ;  and  their  lordships  departed  to  their  provinces 
and  came  no  more  journeying  to  Karuizawa.  They 
arrived  with  such  volcanic  suddenness,  these  changes 
from  old  to  new  Japan,  and  they  were  so  sweeping,  so 
utterly  disorganizing  to  half  the  conditions  of  life  ! 
Surely  the  national  centre  of  gravity  must  be  marvel- 
ously  hung  to  have  kept  the  whole  structure  from 
tipping  over  in  hopeless  ruin. 

So  it  was  that  when  the  railroad  came  through  in 
the  early  nineties,  via  Takasaki,  over  the  pass  and 
down  to  Naoetsu  and  Niigata,  on  the  Japan  Sea,  it 
found  only  a  miserable  tumble-down  village,  instead 


KARUIZAWA  AND  THE  WEST  COAST.        237 

of  a  fine  post-town.  However,  even  before  the  rail- 
road got  all  the  way,  certain  foreigners  had  discovered 
the  place  and  its  possibilities,  and  were  taking  pos- 
session. 

"  And  thick  and  fast  they  came  at  last,  and  more,  and  more,  and 
more." 

The  Canadian  missionaries  began  it;  H.  B.  M's, 
legation  followed  and  built  itself  a  house,  the  moun- 
tain retreat  of  which  Mrs.  Hugh  Fraser  writes  so 
delightfully;  "foreign  residents"  came  likewise,  and 
took  to  themselves  lands  in  the  name  of  their  cooks 
and  house-boys — this  was  in  the  days  of  Extra-Ter- 
ritoriality  and  passports ;  tiny  Japanese  houses  were 
rented  and  built  for  renting  ;  and  the  prongs  of  alien 
rocking-chairs  played  havoc  with  the  fragile  shoji. 
When  the  Presbyterian  Convention  settled  here,  and 
an  annual  General  Conference  of  Missionaries,  Karui- 
zawa's  future  was  made.  The  butcher  and  the  baker 
and  the  laundryman  have  brought  their  English 
signs  to  hang  in  the  village  street,  the  foreign  hotel 
is  distinctly  good,  and  Kameya — Kameya,  the  enter- 
prising, the  invaluable — opens  a  branch  grocery  for 
the  summer. 

It  takes  a  large  piece  of  the  day  to  come  up  from 
Tokyo,  changing  cars  at  Takasaki  and  climbing 
through  twenty-seven  reeking  tunnels,  and  along  the 
edges  of  ravines,  and  among  rocks  and  precipices,  all 


238  JAPAN. 

tumbled,  jagged  and  stood  on  end.  From  this  tor- 
mented wilderness  the  train  sweeps  out  at  last  into  a 
grassy  moor,  edged  with  hills,  starred  with  lilies  and 
orchids  and  all  the  mountain  field-flowers  of  Japan, 
and  drops  you  at  a  station  perhaps  half  a  mile  from 
the  summer  town,  where  the  strong,  keen  air  sets  the 
blood  hurrying. 

Now,  it  is  not  well  to  suggest  to  Karuizawa  people 
that  there  may  be  more  beautiful  spots  in  the  empire ; 
still,  Mr.  Chamberlain  is  more  truthful  than  polite 
when  he  calls  it  "  a  dowdy  village,"  and  adds  remarks 
about  the  back  woods.  There  really  are  no  "  attrac- 
tions," except  the  many  walks,  which  are  pretty,  if 
not  deeply  interesting;  and  there  are  several  ex- 
cursions, which  make  pleasant  diversions  in  a  Karui- 
zawa summer,  besides  the  one  great  trip  to  Mount 
Asama.  But  about  the  air  there  are  no  two  opinions ; 
whatever  is  the  reason,  it  is  drier,  cooler,  more  bracing 
than  even  at  Ikao — than  anywhere  in  Japan,  short  of 
the  Hokkaido  and  its  cool  northern  summers.  The 
village  lies  seven  hundred  and  eighty  feet  below  the 
summit  of  the  pass,  which  leaves  it  still  thirty-two 
hundred  and  seventy  feet  above  the  sea,  lying  against 
low  hills,  which  thrust  out  their  spurs  into  the  plain. 
It  is  not  really  a  plain,  though,  but  a  wide,  high  valley 
— almost  a  plateau — and  the  very  dividing  ridge 
between  the  two  sides  of  the  island.  The  sea-winds 
seem  to  drop  most  of  their  moisture  before  they  get 
so  high,  and,  though  the  mists  roll  up  over  the  hills 


KARUIZAWA  AND  THE   WEST  COAST.        239 

behind,  making  Scotch  people  talk  about  the  High- 
lands, there  is  less  rainfall  than  anywhere  else,  except 
in  the  northern  island.  The  soil  is  light,  even  for 
dry-soiled  Japan ;  for  Asama  rises  across  the  valley 
five  miles  away,  and  Asama  burst  out  into  a  great  erup- 
tion a  century  or  two  ago  and  spread  a  layer  of  ashes 
four  feet  deep  over  miles  of  rice-fields  and  unsuspecting 
villages ;  and  the  streams  were  dried  up,  and  the  fields 
became  a  barren  moor,  overgrown  with  knot-grass. 
Since  then  Asama  only  puffs  and  mutters,  or  sends  out 
an  occasional  little  sprinkle  of  ashes,  and  the  climbers — 
they  come  by  scores  all  summer — can  scramble  up  the 
last  steep  cone  to  the  very  edge  of  the  crater.  There 
are  no  awful  fires  to  behold,  only  ashes  and  blocks  of 
lava,  and  sudden  clefts  split  down  to  unknown  depths, 
and  at  all  times  an  abundance  of  blinding,  choking, 
sulphurous  smoke. 

There  are  two  or  three  ways  of  going  up  Asama,  all 
taking  a  good  long  day  for  the  trip ;  but  though  the 
path  is  steep  in  places,  it  is  a  good  cinder-track  most 
of  the  way,  and  there  are  no  special  difficulties.  The 
total  height  is  eighty-two  hundred  and  eighty  feet, 
making  it  about  five  thousand  feet  above  Karuizawa. 
The  prettiest  way  is  by  Oi wake  and  a  fine  little  water- 
fall, but  the  easiest  and  most  usual  is  by  the  bump  on 
the  side  of  the  mountain  called  Ko-Asama.  You  ride 
across  the  moor  and  up  the  slope  to  Ko-Asama,  and 
climb  from  there  in  about  three  hours  to  the  crater. 
From  the  path,  as  well  as  the  top,  the  view  is  superb, 


240  JAPAN. 

if  you  are  lucky  enough  to  get  it ;  there  are  all  the 
ranges,  north,  south,  east  and  west,  the  sea  far  away  to 
the  east,  and  to  the  south  even  the  cone  of  Fuji  San. 
There  are  those  who  think  it  well  worth  while  to  come 
to  Karuizawa  just  to  climb  Asama  and  see  that  view. 
Of  course,  the  railroad  did  not  come  up  this  way  for 
the  sake  of  scenery,  but  because  it  was  the  least  diffi- 
cult crossing  over  the  mountains  to  the  west  coast; 
but,  nevertheless,  it  is  perhaps  the  most  picturesque 
line  in  all  Japan,  even  the  Tokaido  not  excepted.  At 
first,  after  crossing  the  Usui  Toge  to  Karuizawa,  the 
road  sweeps  across  the  nearly  level  moor  to  the  shoulder 
of  Asama;  then  it  follows  a  tributary  of  the  Shinano- 
gawa  among  deep  ravines,  scooped  by  torrents  out  of 
the  reddish,  gravelly  soil ;  far  below  there  are  glimpses 
of  the  sunny  rice-fields,  and  behind,  the  sides  of 
Asama  no  longer  slope  smoothly  down,  but  are  scarred 
with  clefts  and  ridges  of  dark  lava,  Of  the  places  on 
the  way,  Komoro,  Takata,  Uyeda  and  Matsumoto 
were  all  castle-towns  in  the  feudal  days,  and  at  Komoro 
and  Nagano  there  are  two  very  famous  monasteries. 
That  at  Nagano  is  one  of  the  oldest  in  Japan,  having 
been  founded  in  670 ;  of  course,  there  are  no  build- 
ings standing  that  are  anything  like  so  old — the 
wooden  architecture  of  Japan  is  always  short-lived — 
but  it  contains  a  very  sacred  image  of  Amida,  with 
two  companions,  said  to  have  been  carved  by  Shaka 
(Gautama  Buddha)  himself,  and  brought  to  Japan  in 
the  very  earliest  period  of  Buddhism  there.     Matsu- 


KARUIZAWA   AND  THE  WEST  COAST.        241 

moto  is  not  on  the  railroad  itself,  but  is  reached  by 
kuruma,  over  a  fine  pass,  some  thirty  miles  in  all 
from  Uyeda.  Walkers  go  to  Matsumoto,  making  it 
a  centre  for  expeditions  among  the  mountains ;  but 
there  is  little  or  no  European  accommodation  to  be 
had  at  the  inns.  The  one  remaining  watch-tower  of 
Uyeda  castle  stands  up  sharply  from  the  river  as  you 
leave  the  town. 

Nagano  is  the  present  capital  of  the  prefecture  of 
Nagano,  created  after  the  Restoration  from  the  prov- 
ince of  Etchigo ;  it  is  unlike  many  others  of  these 
new  divisions,  in  that  it  has  followed  the  lines  of  the 
old  Daimiate,  instead  of  taking  fragments  of  several. 
The  Daimyo  of  this  region  were  all  closely  attached  to 
the  Tokugawa,  and  suffered  in  consequence  on  the  down- 
fall of  the  Shogunate.  But  between  the  monastery 
and  the  pilgrims,  and  the  new  government  buildings 
and  the  numerous  officials  in  residence,  Nagano  has  a 
very  flourishing  air,  and  does  a  great  deal  of  business 
with  the  country  around.  The  mountains  almost  lock 
it  in,  and  the  railroad  passes,  as  it  were,  through  a 
gate  in  the  hills  to  reach  the  valley  of  the  Sekigawa 
and  follow  it  down  to  Naoetsu. 

Here  there  is  a  fairly  good  port,  where  the  steamers 
call  which  connect  the  west  coast  towns ;  but  the  place 
is  absolutely  uninteresting ;  and  so,  too,  is  Niigata,  to 
which  the  railroad  runs  on,  by  way  of  eighty  miles  of 
coast.  Niigata  was  one  of  the  five  ports  which  were 
opened  to  foreigners  by  treaty;  but  it  has  been  of  very 
Vol.  L— 16 


21»2  JAPAN. 

little  value  to  anybody,  for  it  is  not  really  a  harbor  at 
all,  but  only  an  open  roadstead,  exposed  to  the  north 
and  west  winds.  The  Shinanogawa  flows  into  the  sea 
beside  it,  and,  spreading  out  among  the  dunes,  drops  a 
mass  of  sand  from  the  mountains,  bringing  down  a 
fresh  deposit  with  every  storm ;  so  that  it  is  hopeless 
to  cut  through  the  bar  across  the  harbor,  which  only 
allows  small  boats  to  enter.  The  tree-planted  walks 
alone:  the  dunes  and  a  certain  stiff  cleanliness  about 
the  little  town,  made  Rein  compare  it  with  a  Dutch 
village. 

This  entire  coast  is  as  different  as  possible  from  the 
picturesque  cliffs  and  coves  of  the  southeast ;  for  miles 
it  is  a  flat  line  of  shale  and  red  sand,  on  which  the 
sea  breaks  heavily,  so  that  for  half  the  year  boats  can- 
not laud,  except  in  a  very  few  places.  The  warm 
Black  Current,  too,  only  sends  up  this  side  a  small 
branch,  which  slides  off  around  western  Kiushiu,  and 
stands  out  from  the  shore  line  almost  up  to  the  west 
coast  of  Yedo.  Add  to  this  the  sweep  of  the  bitter 
northwest  wTinds  in  winter,  and  the  near  mountain 
ranges  which  keep  off  the  summer  south  winds,  and 
Niigata  has  as  unlucky  a  climate  as  could  well  be 
imagined— cold  and  snow-blocked  all  winter  and  in- 
tensely  hot  in  summer.  At  present,  its  chief  import- 
ance, as  well  as  Naoetsu's,  is  due  to  the  kerosene  oil 
which  is  found  in  the  mountains,  and  is  more  and 
more  carefully  worked  every  year.  Modern  machin- 
ery for  the  oil-wells  has  been  put  up  in  some  places, 


KARUIZAWA  AND  THE   WEST  COAST.        243 

but  at  many  others  the  digging  and  pumping  are  all 
done  by  hand.  Not  only  is  it  far  easier  to  get  com- 
mon laborers  than  men  with  skill  enough  to  run  the 
complex  imported  machinery,  but  with  interest  high 
and  labor  still  comparatively  low,  few  Japanese  are 
ready  to  make  the  outlay  of  capital  necessary  for  an 
oil-plant  of  American  pattern. 

As  a  rule,  this  native  oil  is  much  less  carefully 
refined  and  sells  much  more  cheaply  than  the  imported 
article,  but  holds  its  own  for  those  who  cannot  afford 
better ;  the  Russian  oil  is  next  best,  and  the  American 
best  of  all,  and  also  a  little  more  costly  than  its  Rus- 
sian rival.  There  are  oil-wells  recently  opened  in  the 
island  of  Yezo,  too,  and  doubtless  in  time  the  Japan- 
ese product  will  supply  the  home  market  entirely. 
In  connection  with  the  American  oil,  an  odd  side- 
industry  has  grown  up  in  some  places  like  Tokyo, 
where  it  is  largely  used.  The  oil  comes  in  square, 
five-gallon  tins,  which,  in  America,  would  find  their 
way  in  due  time  into  the  ash-barrel.  But  tin  is  scarce 
in  Japan,  and  labor  plenty ;  the  frugal  Japanese  col- 
lects the  cans  carefully,  rolls  out  the  sides,  re-burnishes 
and  works  them  over  into  shiny  pans  and  basins,  and 
such  like,  which  are  eagerly  bought  by  the  poorer 
classes  as  a  cheap,  though  flimsy  substitute,  for  their 
native,  well-wrought  brass. 

Along  with  the  disagreeable  climate,  these  western 
provinces  have  much  mineral  wealth,  and  also  great 
stretches  of  well-watered  lowland,  producing  a  valu- 


944  JAPAN. 

able  rice  crop;  the  fisheries  are  renowned,  in  spite  of 
the  stormy  winter ;  while  in  the  mountains  the  peas- 
ants raise  silkworms,  tea,  paper  trees,  and  a  good  deal 
of  lacquer.  From  the  fifteenth  century  on,  the 
Dai  my  o  of  the  west  coast  were  among  the  most  pow- 
erful in  the  empire ;  under  the  Tokugawa  Shogunate 
there  were  seven  provinces  counted  :  namely,  Kaga, 
famous  for  Kutani  porcelain  and  fine  bronzes ;  Noto, 
the  peninsula  of  Percival  Lowell's  pilgrimage — a 
place  of  rice-fields  and  fish ;  Sado,  a  large  island, 
which  had  valuable  gold  mines,  now  almost  worked  out 
— it  was  to  Sado  that  Nichiren  was  banished  for  his 
over-zealous  preaching;  Dewa,  most  northern  of  the 
seven ;  and  Koshi,  or  Etchi,  which  was  divided  into 
Lower,  Middle  and  Farther  Etchi,  or  Etchigo,  Etchiu 
and  Etchizen.  Of  all  these,  Mayeda,  lord  of  Kaga, 
was  the  wealthiest  peer  in  the  realm,  having  an  income 
of  over  a  million  koku  of  rice ;  only  the  Tokugawa 
of  Owari  and  Wakayama  approached  him,  with  six 
hundred  thousand  and  five  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
koku  respectively.  The  Matsudaira  of  Etchizen  fol- 
lowed hard  after  these  great  lords ;  this  was  the 
family  from  which  Tokugawa  Ieyasu  sprang,  and 
thirty-two  Daimyo  bore  the  name  in  smaller  provinces 
all  over  the  country.  The  capital  of  Kaga — Kana- 
zawa — ig  still  one  of  the  most  important  cities  in 
Japan  ;  it  is  the  capital  of  the  new  prefecture,  which 
takes  in  Noto  as  well  as  Kaga,  and  has  a  garrison  -of 
soldiers   stationed   in   it.     Quantities  of  Kutani  ware 


KARUIZAWA   AND   THE   WEST  COAST.        245 

go  from  the  potteries  all  over  the  world — the  fine, 
thin  Kutani  porcelain,  decorated  in  red  oxide  of  iron 
and  gold,  which  has  kept  its  old  standards  so  much 
better  than  most  Japanese  china  made  for  the  foreign 
market.  Griffis  has  made  Etchizen  famous  among 
English-speaking  people  by  his  pleasant  account  of 
his  service  as  professor  in  the  castle-town  of  Fukui 
during  the  last  days  of  the  old  regime ;  and  by  his 
sympathetic  account  of  Lord  Matsudaira's  resignation 
of  the  Damiate  when  the  changes  came,  and  the  cere- 
mony of  dismissing  the  retainers.  We,  who  only 
know  modern  Japan,  with  its  wider  patriotism  of  the 
whole  nation  instead  of  the  province,  can  but  dimly 
guess  what  the  breaking  of  those  hereditary  ties 
meant.  "  Even  the  sparrows  in  the  bushes,"  said  the 
old  proverb,  "  chirp  the  word  '  loyalty  ' — chiu,  chiu  !" 


CHAPTER   XVI. 

IKAO. 

"  With  time  and  patience   the  mulberry  leaf  becomes  silk." — 
Japanese  Proverb. 

Karuizawa,  as  a  summer  resort,  would  never 
attract  the  Japanese,  for  it  has  not  a  single  boiling 
spring.  That  is  their  first  demand — hot  water — 
whether  for  a  sanitarium  or  a  pleasure  resort  to  stay 
in  ;  and  almost  everywhere  in  the  empire  nature  has 
provided  it  for  their  enjoyment.  From  Yezo  to 
Kiushiu  there  are  hundreds  of  springs  sending  up 
water  at  a  temperature  of  eighty  to  a  hundred  degrees 
Fahrenheit,  which  the  people  of  this  land  consider 
very  delightful  for  bathing  in  ;  these  springs  are,  most 
of  them,  very  slightly  impregnated  with  sulphur,  and 
have  also  a  small  amount  of  iron,  not  enough  to  make 
them  very  different  from  ordinary  hot  water.  The 
more  sulphurous  ones  often  come  out  of  the  ground 
hot  to  the  boiling  point;  and  the  number  of  places 
called  Yumoto,  hot  water  source,  is  only  equaled  by 
the  Springvilles  of  America. 

Among  them  all,  Ikao  has  long  been  a  favorite. 
The  place  is  pretty  enough  to  be  worthy  of  its  musical 

246 


IKAO.  247 

name ;  in  fact,  it  is  one  of  the  coolest  and  prettiest 
spots  iu  the  main  island.  Set  far  up  the  side  of  Mount 
Haruna,  twenty-five  hundred  feet  above  the  sea,  it  is 
strictly  a  "Kurort,"  as  the  Germans  say;  its  sole 
reason  for  existence  being  the  water  breaking  in  half 
a  dozen  places  from  the  hillside,  scalding  hot,  slightly 
gaseous,  and  heavily  charged  with  salts  of  iron.  It  is 
crystal  clear  as  it  reaches  the  air,  but  the  moment  the 
gas  escapes  it  drops  a  rusty  deposit  on  the  stones  and 
the  river-bed  and  all  it  touches  ;  the  bathing  tanks  are 
turbid  with  a  yellow  cloud,  and  pieces  of  cloth,  set  to 
steep  in  the  stream,  take  a  bright  rusty  orange  color ; 
so  dyed  they  are  worn  round  the  body  and  thought  to 
be  highly  strengthening,  the  iron  being  supposed  to  be 
somehow  absorbed.  Bathers  come  from  far  and  near 
to  be  cured  of  rheumatism  and  skin  diseases,  both  a 
great  deal  too  common  in  Japan  ;  and  pilgrims  come, 
too,  for  the  Kwannon  temple  below,  at  Mizusawa,  is 
one  of  the  "  Thirty-three  Holy  Places."  And  well 
people  come,  both  Europeans  and  Japanese,  for  the 
beauty  of  the  place  and  to  escape  from  heat  and  mosqui- 
toes. There  is  a  good  foreign  hotel,  and  a  number  of 
cottages  to  let,  besides  Japanese  hotels  and  boarding- 
houses  of  every  grade,  for  the  pilgrims  and  bathers. 

Now,  why  is  it  that  Japanese  bathing  arrangements 
excite  foreigners  more  than  anything  else  in  the  na- 
tional life?  It  is  unique,  certainly,  this  passion  for 
hot  water  among  high  and  low;  some  find  it  a  virtue, 
and  commend  a  race  which  owns  no  great  unwashed ; 


248  JAPAN. 

others  point  to  the  gregarious  tub  and  declare  suc- 
cinctly, "The  Japanese  are  not  an  immoral  people; 
they  simply  have  no  morals."  And  the  successive 
system  distresses  them,  too ;  that  which  makes  guests 
at  an  inn  "  first  come  first  served  "  at  the  same  tubful, 
and  dips  a  household  with  feudal  decorum,  from  the 
Danna  San  to  the  kitchen  maid.  "  Disgusting  cus- 
tom !"  Verily  disgusting,  indeed,  if  one  "used  Pears' 
soap,"  in  European  fashion,  in  the  tub  itself — which 
is  something  a  Japanese  never  dreams  of.  What  he 
does  is  to  scrub  thoroughly  on  the  slatted  floor  of  the 
bath-room,  where  basin  and  pails  are  provided  for  that 
purpose,  and  where  he  will  dash  himself  plentifully 
with  fresh  cold  water  on  getting  out  of  the  tub.  Only 
when  thus  perfectly  clean,  and  rinsed  from  every  par- 
ticle of  soap,  he  enters  the  big  wooden  tub,  and  sits 
soaking  blissfully  up  to  his  neck  in  water  heated  to 
steaming  by  a  charcoal  stove  partitioned  off  at  one  end 
— just  such  an  arrangement  as  the  immortal  Ortho- 
docia  dealt  with.  Mr.  Kipling's  experiences  were  less 
thrilling  than  hers ;  he  was  not  parboiled,  but  he  com- 
plains pathetically  of  sliding  paper  screens  as  scant 
protection  for  an  Englishman  "  clad  in  his  virtue  and 
his  spectacles."  There  is  no  denying  that  it  is  very 
trying  and  improper — especially  for  an  Englishman. 
Hear  what  Dr.  Rein  says — Rein  the  statistical,  the 
coldly  accurate.  In  the  days  when  both  sexes  bathed 
together,  he  declares,  "  they  indulged  in  nothing  un- 
seemly, even  according  to  our  ideas."     Contact  with 


IKAO.  249 

Europeans  put  an  end  to  this  paradisaical  simplicity, 
which  he  holds  u  by  no  means  a  sign  of  moral  corrup- 
tion, or  even  of  want  of  decency."  u  Bashfulness  is 
undoubtedly  a  product  of  social  life  and  civilization, 
as  was  pointed  out  long  ago  by  Rousseau.  It  is  no 
criterion  of  morality,  appears  in  different  forms,  and 
varies  with  the  education  of  mankind  and  the  climate 
in  which  they  have  to  live."  "  Italics  mine,"  as  Mr. 
Ruskin  says.  Well,  be  content ;  the  roadside  tub  is 
banished  nowadays  from  all  but  the  remotest  villages, 
and  certain  conventional  separations  and  restrictions 
are  enforced  by  a  paternal  government,  feverishly 
anxious  to  offend  no  proprieties  of  the  Western  world  ; 
and  therewith  the  people  continue — just  as  calmly  and 
truly  modest  as  they  ever  were.  Except  near  the 
Treaty  Ports ;  there  the  worst  influences  of  all  civil- 
izations have  done  what  they  always  do.  But,  once 
again,  let  us  not  judge  Japan  by  the  open  ports,  till  we 
are  ready  to  have  others  judge  America  by  Chinatown. 
Of  course,  all  this  tubbing  is  in  hot  baths;  nobody 
in  Japan  uses  cold  water  for  pleasure,  except  for  the 
final  splash  after  a  good  boiling.  And,  by  the  way,  it 
must  be  remembered  that  very  hot  water  acts  quite 
differently  from  warm  or  even  moderately  hot ;  where 
warm  water  relaxes,  the  stinging  heat  braces  and  stim- 
ulates the  skin,  else  the  Japanese  race  had  long  ago 
perished  by  reason  of  the  national  habit  of  running 
out,  all  glowing,  into  a  wintry  air  of  perhaps  forty 
degrees  Fahrenheit  —  very  likely  barefoot,  except  for 


250  JAPAN. 

straw  sandals.  Mr.  Chamberlain  insists  that  even 
Englishmen  find  the  hot  baths  somehow  suited  to  the 
climate,  and  it  is  a  fact  that  those  who  have  lived 
longest  in  Japan,  and  most  happily  and  healthily,  are 
just  the  ones  who  have  adopted  this  with  other  Japan- 
ese customs. 

But  cold  bathing  is  occasionally  practiced,  after  all, 
not  as  pleasure,  but  for  purification — religious,  of 
course — or  as  a  penance,  and  sometimes  a  very  severe 
one.  For  instance,  in  the  story  of  the  Cat  of  Nabe- 
shima,  related  by  Mitford  in  his  "Tales  of  Old 
Japan,"  a  priest,  looking  out  one  night,  sees  a  young 
Samurai  bathing  in  the  icy  tank  in  the  garden ;  when 
he  has  finished  and  taken  his  garments  again,  he  bows 
before  the  shrine  and  makes  prayer  for  the  recovery  of 
his  lord.  With  the  help  of  the  priest,  the  young  man 
afterwards  succeeds  in  baffling  the  wicked  enchantress 
cat,  and  finding  herself  discovered,  she  changes  from 
a  lovely  lady  into  her  true  shape,  and  bounds  over  the 
roofs  and  disappears,  whereupon  Lord  Nabeshima 
recovers  from  his  sickness.  Washing  the  hands  at 
the  well  in  the  temple  court  is  a  usual  practice  before 
approaching  to  worship. 

The  primitive  Shinto  nature-worship  is  especially 
full  of  rites  and  formulas  of  purification  from  cere- 
monial uncleanness.  It  is  carried  even  to  a  special 
cult ;  up  in  the  mountains,  in  the  most  solitary  places, 
live  hermits  who  are  seeking  after  perfect  purity ; 
eating  only  herbs,  drinking  only  water,  and  bathing — 


IKAO.  251 


it  makes  one  shiver  to  think  of !— bathing  night  and 
day,  winter  and  summer,  in  the  mountain  streams  and 
icy  waterfalls.  Sometimes  they  stand  for  hours  under 
the  dash  of  the  fall,  or  up  to  their  necks  in  a  pool ; 
on  the  coast,  such  rites  are  sometimes  performed  in 
the  sea.  If  the  Gyoja— the  mountain  hermits— die 
under  such  trials,  there  is  reward  for  faithfulness  in 
an  after  life ;  if  they  survive  and  continue,  wonderful 
powers  come  to  them— power  to 'perform  marvelous 
feats,  to  see  and  hear  things  hidden  from  grosser  eyes. 
Such  are  the  exercises  and  manifestations  of  the  exor- 
cists on  Mount  Ontake,  near  the  Torii  pass,  which  Per- 
cival  Lowell  has  studied  and  written  about  so  fully. 

The  Buddhist  hermits  generally  lead  a  less  severe 
life,  devoting  themselves  instead  to  reciting  the  proper 
prayers  to  Kwannon  or  Amida.  There  is  a  pious  legend 
of  one  of  these,  who  lived  in  the  mountains  near  Lake 
Biwa,  praying  and  giving  counsel  to  the  villagers  who 
came  to  him  in  his  retreat.  They  brought  him  rood 
and  cared  for  his  few  wants,  as  pious  folk  will  in  the 
East ;  but  one  winter  there  came  a  terrible  snow- 
storm, which  blocked  the  path,  so  that  for  days  they 
could  not  climb  the  mountain.  The  holy  man  was 
all  but  starved,  and  had  given  himself  up  for  lost, 
when  he  found  at  his  door  a  stray  deer,  which  had 
come  to  his  hut  seeking  shelter  and  had  fallen  there 
frozen.  Here  was  food ;  but  even  though  he  did  not 
have  to  take  its  life,  the  priest  hesitated  to  break  the 
rule  and  eat  flesh,  which  was  forbidden  even  to  the 


252  JAPAN. 

laity.  Yet  he  bethought  him  of  his  people ;  for  if  he 
died,  who  would  say  prayers  for  them  aud  give  them 
spiritual  aid  ?  So,  at  last,  with  many  misgivings,  he 
cut  off  a  piece  of  the  flesh  and  cooked  it  and  ate  a 
little,  leaving  the  rest  in  the  pot.  When  the  storm 
was  over,  the  villagers  hurried  to  see  what  had  become 
of  their  priest,  and,  to  their  great  joy,  found  him  safe 
and  lustily  chanting  the  daily  office.  He  told  his  tale, 
and  looking  in  the  pot  they  found — not  a  piece  of  meat, 
but  a  bit  of  gilded  wood.  Here  was  a  miracle ;  and, 
going  to  the  nearest  Kwannon  temple,  they  found  a 
piece  had  been  cut  from  the  side  of  the  image.  When 
the  bit  of  wood  was  laid  on  the  place,  it  exactly  fitted, 
and  at  once  grew  fast  without  leaving  any  mark.  So 
then  they  knew  for  a  surety  that  the  Merciful  Kwan- 
non had  given  of  herself  to  save  the  life  of  her 
servant. 

Such  deeds  as  the  Gyoja  practice  daily,  penitents 
undertake  for  a  certain  time,  as  an  expiation,  or  to 
fulfill  some  particular  vow  ;  pilgrims,  too,  bathe  long 
and  often  at  this  or  that  sacred  lake  or  stream  ;  or, 
unwillingly  enough,  some  poor  demented  creature  is 
held  shivering  and  struggling  under  a  waterfall,  that 
he  or  she  may  be  set  free  from  "  Fox  possession." 
Various  kinds  of  dementia  or  epilepsy  are  accounted 
for  in  both  Japan  and  China  by  a  fox  being  supposed 
to  have  entered  the  victim's  body,  and  it  is  thought 
that,  if  the  residence  is  made  very  uncomfortable,  the 
undesired  tenant  will  leave.     So  the  possessed  one  is 


ikao.  253 

subjected  to  all  kinds  of  exorcisms  and  penances,  this 
ordeal  of  waterfalls  being  thought  especially  efficacious 
— and  it  might  really  be,  perhaps,  if  the  case  is  a 
hysterical  one.  It  is  something  of  this  sort  that 
the  skeptical  villager  tries,  in  Mitford's  amusing 
story  of  the  man  who  makes  a  bet  that  he  will  cross 
a  certain  lonely  moor  by  night,  without  being  deceived 
by  the  foxes  who  haunt  it ;  and  so,  meeting  a  girl  on 
the  way,  who  seems  to  be  the  daughter  of  his  friend, 
he  decides  at  once  that  she  is  a  fox  in  disguise,  goes  to 
the  house  and  tells  her  parents,  and  undertakes  to 
make  the  creature  show  its  true  form,  which  he  does 
so  vigorously  that  the  girl  dies  in  his  hands.  The 
infuriated  parents  only  consent  to  spare  his  life  if  he 
will  at  once  become  a  priest ;  so  his  head  is  shaved  on 
the  spot,  and,  as  the  last  lock  falls,  there  is  a  shout 
of  mocking  laughter,  house  and  parents  vanish,  and 
the  unbeliever  finds  himself  alone  on  the  moor,  with 
his  head  shaved  as  bald  as  an  egg. 

Sometimes  the  fox  disguises  himself  as  a  human 
being,  and  lives  with  his  victim,  instead  of  entering 
his  body.  An  Emperor  once  shot  at  a  fox,  which  lay 
under  a  chrysanthemum  bush  in  his  garden  ;  it  was 
wounded  and  ran  away,  and  afterwards  one  of  the 
ladies  of  the  court  was  found  to  have  a  wound  in  her 
forehead,  just  where  the  Emperor's  arrow  struck  the 
fox.  Thus  detected,  the  evil  thing  was  promptly  dis- 
posed of. 

Naturally   the  wise    modern  doctors  do  not   coun- 


254  JAPAN. 

tenance  this  sort  of  water-cure  for  epilepsy,  and 
modern  law  has  not  a  little  to  say  on  the  subject;  but 
the  new  rules  do  not  greatly  trouble  the  remote  moun- 
tain villages,  and  the  new  science  affects  them  still 
less.  However,  the  modern  schools  have  come  now, 
and,  with  the  young  generation,  Brer  Fox's  days  are 
surely  numbered. 

Ikao's  little  town  seems  pinned,  like  a  swallow's 
nest,  against  the  green  mountain ;  its  main  street 
climbs  so  steeply  that  it  has  to  make  steps  to  get  up, 
and  the  houses  straggle  after  like  a  flock  of  goats. 
Little  side  streets  wander  out  right  and  left,  in  an 
irresponsible  sort  of  fashion,  all  given  over  in  some 
way  or  other  to  the  housing  and  amusing  of  visitors. 
As  for  the  bath-houses,  they  advertise  themselves  by 
perpetual  clouds  of  steam,  like  so  many  huge  wash- 
boilers.  The  story  goes  that  doctors  are  wont  to  lodge 
certain  indolent  patients  well  down  the  slope,  and 
send  them  up  the  long  steps  for  a  morning  and  eve- 
ning drink — a  kind  of  unofficial  "  Terrein  Kur,"  for 
people  who  will  not  exercise  unless  they  are  made  to. 

There  is  a  great  deal  of  exercise  involved  in  merely 
getting  to  Ikao  at  all.  The  railroad  sends  out  a 
branch  from  Omiya  on  the  main  line  to  Takasaki  and 
Maebashi,  and  thence  you  proceed  by  kuruma,  or  by 
an  execrable  tram ;  or,  if  the  road  is  in  condition,  by 
kuruma,  via  Mizusawa  and  the  Kwannon  temple 
aforesaid.  Either  way  is  warranted  to  provide  a 
liberal  jolting ;  but  I  hear  the  road  has  been  improved, 


IKAO.  255 

and  at  least  the  ride  is  exceedingly  pretty,  through 
green  valleys,  more  and  more  steep,  up  and  up  into 
the  towering  hills. 

The  Kwannon  temple  at  Mizusawa  is  one  of  a 
second  set  of  "  Thirty-three  Holy  Places,"  provided 
for  the  needs  of  the  more  out-of-the-way  provinces. 
The  original  ones  are  all  in  the  region  round  Nara 
and  Kyoto,  and  the  knowledge  of  them  was  first 
revealed  to  an  abbot  of  the  devout  eighth  century. 
The  abbot,  who  seems  to  have  been  a  most  saintly 
man,  fell  suddenly  ill  and  apparently  died ;  but  his 
body  did  not  become  cold,  and  his  disciples  therefore 
waited  to  bury  him,  hoping  he  might  return  to  life. 
And,  indeed,  after  three  days,  he  suddenly  woke,  as 
if  from  sleep,  and  told  them  he  had  been  to  the  under 
world.  Two  attendants  led  him  before  the  judge  of 
the  dead,  Emma-O,  who  received  him  most  graciously, 
and  explained  that  he  had  been  sent  for  to  deliver  a 
message  to  men.  This  was  that  the  Merciful  Kwan- 
non, full  of  pity,  had  taken  thirty-three  spots  under 
her  special  care,  so  that,  if  any  man  made  pilgrimage 
to  one  of  these,  no  matter  what  his  sins,  he  should  be 
saved ;  for  such  a  pilgrim  would  radiate  light  from 
his  feet,  and  would  have  strength  to  crush  to  frag- 
ments all  the  one  hundred  and  thirty-six  hells  which 
were  waiting  for  him.  This  remedy  Kwannon  had 
provided  ;  but,  for  lack  of  knowing  it,  men  went  on 
"  falling  into  hell  as  plentifully  as  the  raindrops  fall 
in  a  summer  shower."     Emma-0  then  told  the  abbot 


256  japan. 

whore  those  places  were,  and  bade  him  return  and  tell 
the  good  news;  but  the  careful  saint  asked  for  a 
sign,  lest  men  should  not  believe.  "Thereupon 
Emma-0  gave  him  his  own  jeweled  seal,  and  he  was 
led  back  by  the  same  two  attendants  into  the  sinful 
world."     (Chamberlain.) 

The  good  abbot  and  his  disciples  at  once  made  the 
first  pilgrimage,  taking  all  the  holy  places  in  the  order 
laid  down  ;  but  perhaps  mankind  were  still  too  skep- 
tical, for  these  particular  pilgrimages  did  not  become 
popular  for  a  couple  of  centuries.  Then  the  Emperor 
Kwazan,  who  was  one  of  the  vols  faineants  under  the 
tutelage  of  the  Fujiwara  prime  ministers,  lost  his  young 
wife ;  and  being  but  a  boy,  and  deeply  in  love,  he  fell 
into  despair  and  left  the  throne  to  become  a  monk, 
spending  his  life  in  pilgrimage  to  the  Thirty-throe 
Holy  Places  of  Kwannon.  From  this  time  they  were 
known  and  honored.  The  temple  at  Miidera  on  Lake 
Biwa  is  one  of  the  series,  and  another  is  Kiyomidzu- 
dera,  in  Kyoto  itself.  The  new  series  was  added  later, 
when  the  more  northern  provinces  became  populous, 
and  naturally  is  less  celebrated,  but  the  temples  are 
believed  to  have  no  less  efficaevthan  the  original  ones. 

All  about  Ikao  the  views  are  wonderful,  even  for 
Japan,  taking  in  wide  valleys  and  distant  peaks,  and 
near  crumpled  hills  with  deep  gorges  between,  furrow- 
ing down  the  slopes  of  Haruna,  each  gorge  adding  its 
torrent  to  the  Azumagawa  and  Tonegawa,  which  meet 
below  and,  passing  south  between  Haruna  and  Akagi 


IKAO.  257 

San,  merge  their  valleys  in  the  Tokyo  plain.  And 
beyond  Akagi,  peak  behind  peak,  is  the  Nikko  range, 
Shirane  and  Nantai  San,  and  a  sickle-like  curve  of 
mountains  sweeping  round  to  the  north  and  west. 
Part  of  the  town  lies  along  one  of  these  deep  ravines, 
down  which  the  stream  rushes  from  Yumoto — that  is 
to  say,  hot  water  source — where  are  seats  for  the  water 
drinkers,  and  shade,  and  glimpses  of  the  valley  and 
the  far  hills. 

The  walks  naturally  are  all  up  hill  and  down,  and 
the  excursions  are  either  tramps  or  chair  rides,  or 
both  impartially  combined.  Kompira  San  is  a  very 
little  ascent  and  a  very  fine  view.  Mount  Soma  and 
the  "Haruna  Fuji"  are  both  pretty  stiff  climbing, 
but  on  Soma  you  get  more  than  two  thousand  feet 
above  Ikao — nearly  five  thousand  feet  from  sea  level 
— see  Asama  to  the  west,  and  the  real  Fuji  far  to  the 
south,  and  overlook  provinces  and  rivers  and  towns 
and  more  mountains  than  one  can  count. 

Then  there  is  Haruna  lake.  Mount  Haruna,  of 
course,  was  once  a  volcano — every  great  mountain  in 
Japan  either  is  or  has  been  or  means  to  be — and  what 
was  once  the  crater  is  now  a  lake,  with  a  good  tea- 
house on  its  banks,  where  you  may  admire  the  pros- 
pect and  dine  on  the  salmon  and  other  fish  with 
which  it  has  been  recently  stocked.  Indeed,  to  admire 
seems  quite  necessary.  Haruna  lake  has  a  guardian 
dragon,  a  "  laidly  worme,"  of  a  most  jealous  disposi- 
tion ;  and  he  has  a  rival  in  the  lake  over  on  Akagi 
Vol.  1—17 


258  JAPAN. 

San,  with  whom  he  will  brook  no  invidious  compari- 
sons. So  if  any  mortal  standing  by  Haruna  lake 
should  be  so  rash  as  to  speak  in  praise  of  Akagi 
Water,  saying  that  it  is  larger  or  more  beautiful,  let 
not  that  one  think  to  reach  home  unscathed  ;  either  he 
will  lose  his  way  on  the  moors,  or  a  terrible  storm 
will  overtake  him. 

The  Haruna  god  seems  to  have  a  special  influence 
in  bringing  down  storms.  When  the  early  rains  are 
delayed  much  after  the  middle  of  June,  the  farmers 
are  in  great  trouble  over  the  young  rice;  and  if  the 
drought  lasts  long,  they  gather  from  neighboring  vil- 
lages and  pray  for  rain.  Then  a  number  of  bands, 
made  up  from  the  several  villages,  set  off  for  Mount 
Haruna  to  fetch  some  of  the  water  of  the  lake.  The 
water  must  be  carried  very  swiftly,  else  the  sky-water 
will  come  down  to  join  the  lake  water  in  the  wrong 
place ;  so  the  several  groups  station  themselves  at  dif- 
ferent points  to  receive  and  carry  it  on.  The  first 
band  goes  all  the  way  to  the  top,  and  gathers  the  water 
in  large  bamboo  stalks,  which  are  closed  up  at  the  end 
to  make  light,  strong  vessels ;  running  all  the  way, 
they  reach  the  foot  of  the  mountains  and  hand  over 
the  tubes  to  the  next  band,  and  so  the  water  is  carried 
forty  or  fifty  miles  in  a  day.  They  carry  it  to  a 
proper  temple  and  make  prayer  there,  and  afterwards 
one  of  the  bamboo  holders  goes  to  each  village,  and 
the  peasants  carry  them  through  the  fields  night  and 
day,  singing  and  shouting  and  beating  drums.     The 


IKAO.  259 

whole  affair  is  apt  to  end  with  a  grand  drinking  and 
merry-making  at  the  expense  of  the  villages. 

Tenjin  pass  goes  westward  from  Haruna  over  the 
edge  of  the  crater  a  little  way  above  the  lake,  and 
wanders  up  the  Azuma  valley  into  a  mountain  trap, 
from  which  it  struggles  out  somewhere  in  Echigo 
province ;  it  is  one  of  the  old  highways,  but  has  never 
compared  in  importance  with  the  Usui  Toge,  which 
lies  to  the  south  of  Haruna.  Following  the  path 
down  the  other  side  of  the  ridge  from  the  crater,  you 
reach  an  old,  old  Shinto  temple  in  a  grove  of  crypto- 
meria  trees,  set  among  vast  rocks  that  are  torn,  flung, 
piled  one  on  the  other,  as  if  all  the  mountain  goblins 
had  been  at  play,  or  as  if  the  Earth  God  and  the  Fire 
God  to  whom  the  temple  is  dedicated  had  chosen  the 
glen  for  a  last  desperate  battle;  while  the  carved 
dragons  on  the  porch  might  have  kept  watch  between, 
twisting  and  curling  in  evil  delight  of  the  fray. 
Though  Shinto  in  origin,  the  place  used  to  belong  to 
the  wild  Yamabushi,  or  mountain  priests,  who  were 
Buddhist  in  profession,  but  for  two  or  three  centuries 
it  has  been  in  quieter  hands.  The  priests'  families 
live  in  the  village  below,  for  this  temple  has  always 
kept  a  traditional  right  of  marriage  for  its  servants. 

This  central  mountain  region  is  a  great  silk-growing 
district ;  the  three  provinces  of  Nagano,  Gumma  and 
Fukushima  raise  two-fifths  of  all  the  cocoons  pro- 
duced in  the  empire.  In  many  villages  the  large, 
well-built  houses  show  how  profitable  the  industry  has 


260  JAPAN. 

been  to  these  high  places,  some  of  which  could  hardly 
raise  a  koku  of  rice  on  the  hilly  fields.  Indeed,  the 
peasants  of  the  highlands  learn  to  look  upon  rice  as  a 
luxury,  to  be  reserved  for  the  sick  and  weakly,  and 
depend  for  food  on  their  barley  and  millet ;  but  where 
the  white  mulberry  appears,  there  the  people  are 
flourishing  and  well  to  do.  Part  at  least  of  this  pros- 
perity is  due  to  the  Shogun  Tokugawa  Yoshimune, 
who,  early  in  the  eighteenth  century,  extended  and 
improved  sen-culture  in  the  midland  provinces. 
Through  this  part  of  the  country  almost  every  house 
in  the  little  villages  has  a  separate  room,  or  sometimes 
a  whole  second  story  built  for  the  worms,  which  will 
not  flourish  unless  they  have  a  clean,  airy  place,  suffi- 
ciently warm,  but  sheltered  from  the  direct  rays  of  the 
sun.  The  room  is  filled  with  slatted  shelves  or  racks, 
piled  from  floor  to  ceiling,  and  on  the  shelves  stand 
shallow  trays  of  mulberry  leaves,  where  the  host  of 
pale  green  or  whitey-brown  creatures  squirm  and  eat, 
eat,  eat  all  day  and  all  night.  If  you  put  your  ear 
down  you  can  hear  them  eating,  with  a  faint,  crisp 
rustle  which  is  most  uncanny.  At  first,  when  they  are 
very  small — from  the  hatching  till  the  second  or  third 
casting  of  the  skin — the  leaves  must  be  cut  up  for 
them ;  and  at  times  some  one  has  to  watch  all  night. 
Well  conducted  human  babies  are  really  twice  as 
hardy  as  these  pampered  specialists.  The  beds  must 
be  cleaned  daily,  except  when  the  worms  are  casting 
their  skins,  which  they  do  four  times,  at  intervals  of 


IKAO.  261 

six  and  eight  days.  To  get  them  transferred,  the 
usual  way  is  to  spread  a  hemp  net  over  the  tray,  and 
cover  it  with  fresh  leaves ;  the  worms  crawl  onto  it, 
and  are  then  lifted  to  a  fresh  tray.  Most  of  the  time 
they  are  fed  four  times  a  day  ;  between  the  last  change 
of  skin  and  the  moment  of  beginning  to  spin  they  eat 
three-fourths  of  all  the  food  they  take  in  their  entire 
existence. 

When  they  show  by  their  appearance  and  move- 
ments that  the  time  for  spinning  has  arrived,  the  care- 
takers lay  twigs  of  rape  or  small  faggots  of  brush 
across  the  trays,  and  the  caterpillars  climb  up  and 
hang  themselves  comfortably.  When  the  cocoons  are 
finished — which  takes  several  days — the  best  of  them 
are  picked  out  for  breeding,  and  the  rest  killed,  either 
by  exposure  to  hot  sun,  or  in  an  oven  or  by  steam. 
The  eggs  are  very  thin  and  easily  broken,  and  to  keep 
them  from  injury  a  stiff  card  is  provided  for  the  moth, 
on  which  they  stick  and  can  be  safely  handled.  The 
best  kinds  are  raised  in  the  mountains,  and  most  of  the 
egg  cards  come  from  a  few  special  districts.  They 
must  be  carefully  kept  in  a  dry,  cool  place,  and  pro- 
tected from  mice. 

Early  in  May,  as  soon  as  the  young  leaves  begin  to 
put  out,  the  egg  cards  are  brought  from  the  storehouse 
and  set  in  a  warm  room,  or  in  a  shady  place  out  of 
doors,  and  the  "  haru-ko  " — spring  children — coaxed 
to  come  out  and  begin  their  career.  In  the  lower 
parts  of  the  silk  districts  the  mulberry  trees  are  care- 


262  JAPAN. 

fully  planted  in  rows  three  feet  apart,  and  kept 
trimmed  back  to  low  bushes  ;  at  a  little  distance  they 
look  rather  like  one  of  the  low  vineyards  of  Italy. 
Higher  on  the  hills  they  are  allowed  to  grow  taller, 
perhaps  four  to  six  feet,  and  are  still  well  cared  for  in 
a  good  deep  soil,  and  carefully  headed  up  ;  on  the 
slopes  of  some  valleys  they  are  permitted  to  grow  into 
trees,  and  in  such  places  the  leaves  are  less  fine  and 
thickly  set,  and  the  trees  are  said  to  last  only  forty  out 
of  a  possible  sixty  years. 

Besides  the  ordinary  silkworm  moth,  of  which  there 
are  many  varieties  more  or  less  alike,  there  is  another 
of  a  different  species  which  is  used  to  some  extent ; 
this  is  called  the  yama-mae,  literally  wild  (or  moun- 
tain) cocoon.  The  moth  and  worm  are  larger  and  the 
silk  coarser.  These  feed  on  the  chestnut  oak,  and  are 
raised  out  of  doors,  on  plantations  of  low  trees  set  out 
for  the  purpose ;  scare-crows  and  boys  with  clappers 
and  various  other  devices  are  used  to  protect  the 
worms  from  birds  and  other  enemies.  But  they  are 
restless  feeders,  and  difficult  to  keep  together,  instead 
of  liking  to  herd,  as  the  true  silkworms  do ;  and  the 
silk  is  more  difficult  to  reel  off  the  cocoon.  Though  a 
good  deal  of  it  is  raised  in  certain  places,  this  yama- 
mae  silk  is  seldom  made  up  alone,  but  is  used  for 
weaving  into  certain  kinds  of  loose  crape  manufactured 
for  special  purposes. 

Women  do  most  of  the  work  of  caring  for  the  silk- 
worms ;  little  girls  who  seem  hardly  more  than  babies 


IKAO.  2G3 

know  how  to  pick  the  wriggling  things  up  without 
hurting  them,  and  tell  by  the  size,  color  and  trans- 
parency how  old  they  are  and  how  soon  they  will 
begin  to  spin,  and  many  other  mysteries  hidden  from 
the  unskilled.  But  it  is  Oba  San  (grandmother)  who 
understands  all  and  directs  all — bow-backed,  cheery- 
faced  Oba  San,  with  her  bright  eyes  and  skin  like 
wrinkled  leather,  who  remembers  days  loii£  before  the 
Black  Ships  came  to  Japan,  and  has  grandchildren 
working  in  the  new  water-power  filature  under  the 
hill.  She  and  Oji  San  cannot  do  with  these  new- 
fangled ways,  so  when  the  cocoons  are  spun  she  and 
he  will  get  out  the  old  hand-reels  and  sit  on  the  cot- 
tage floor  winding  off  the  skeins  with  marvelous  deft- 
ness. Indeed,  in  many  cottages  the  old  hand-looms 
are  still  in  use,  and  the  old  weaves  are  kept  up — those 
distinctive  local  weaves  by  which  you  could  tell  the 
fabric  of  one  province  from  another.  Often  still  the 
tree  is  grown,  the  worms  raised,  the  thread  spun  and 
woven  and  dyed  at  the  same  little  mountain  cottage. 

The  first  filature  in  the  country  was  one  started  at 
Tomioka  near  Takasaki  in  1869,  by  a  Frenchman, 
who  was  engaged  by  the  government  for  the  purpose. 
Now  this  filature  is  one  of  the  largest  in  the  empire, 
and  there  are  many  more,  besides  the  large  spinning 
and  weaving  factories  that  have  sprung  up  in  Osaka, 
always  commercial  and  industrial,  and  in  Tokyo  and 
Kyoto,  and  the  very  many  small  establishments  scat- 
tered through  the  silk-growing  provinces. 


264  JAPAN. 

The  Hon.  Robert  P.  Porter,  United  States  Tariff 
Commissioner,  puts  the  situation  in  a  nutshell :  "  The 
Japanese  simply  throws  away  the  old  device  when  he 
can  get  the  new;  like  all  good  workmen,  however,  he 
does  not  stand  idly  by  waiting  for  better  implements; 
he  pounds  away  at  his  rice,  and  runs  off  beautiful 
silken  threads  from  the  ancient  spinning-wheel,  wholly 
oblivious  of  the  hum  and  rattle  of  modern  machinery 
in  the  surrounding  factories.  He  cannot  afford  to 
stop,  but  he  is  none  the  less  awaiting  his  turn  to  secure 
the  newer  machines."  Spinning  machinery  to  the 
value  of  over  two  hundred  thousand  pounds  was  im- 
ported from  England  in  1898 — not  all,  of  course,  in- 
tended for  silk ;  the  weaving  of  cotton  increases 
yearly,  and  of  linen  likewise.  It  is  a  curious  fact  that 
nearly  all  of  the  best  Japanese  embroidery  is  done  by 
men  ;  but  of  nine  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  persons 
engaged  in  weaving  in  1894,  nearly  nine  hundred 
thousand  were  women  and  girls. 

Rein  explains  in  detail  the  various  kinds  of  thread 
spun,  which,  of  course,  are  essentially  the  same  as  in 
other  countries — the  floss  silk  worked  up  from  waste, 
and  from  the  outer  portion  of  the  cocoons,  and  the 
reeled  silk  which  is  wound  off  from  the  cocoons  and 
spun  into  threads  for  the  loom.  From  three  to  fifteen 
threads  of  reeled  silk,  representing  as  many  cocoons, 
are  spun  into  these  threads  for  warp  and  woof,  accord- 
ing to  the  weight  of  fabric  desired.  The  secret  of 
making  chinmen  or  crape  is  that  the  woof  threads  are 


IKAO.  265 

very  tightly  twisted,  half  to  the  right  and  half  to  the 
left ;  the  two  kinds  are  woven  in  alternately,  and 
when  the  web  is  dipped  this  reverse  twisting  makes 
the  crinkle.  The  twisting  is  done  on  a  special  wheel, 
the  large  hand  wheel  one  sees  in  so  many  cottages, 
o-guruma,  the  great  wheel,  they  call  it.  The  dipping 
is  really  a  boiling  which  goes  on  for  several  hours,  in 
water  mixed  with  ashes  made  from  straw,  and  often 
slightly  colored  with  a  little  indigo.  Then  the  fabric 
is  washed  out,  stretched,  and  rolled  on  a  wooden  cyl- 
inder to  dry.  The  crinkling  shrinks  it  to  about  three- 
fourths  of  its  original  width,  but  in  length  it  alters 
much  less.  Silk  waste,  ma-watta,  looks  very  like  what 
we  call  cotton  wadding,  and  they  use  it  to  line  the 
nicer  dresses  for  winter ;  it  is  delightfully  warm,  and 
light  as  down  almost.  The  bottom  of  a  lady's  dress 
is  padded  out  into  a  stylish  roll,  and  both  men's  and 
women's  winter  garments  are  often  lined  with  ma- 
watta.  The  bits  of  flock  working  through  to  the  out- 
side are  cherished,  because  they  show  the  nice  quality 
of  the  lining — a  cotton  wadding  does  not  come  through. 
The  government  makes  wisely  paternal  efforts  to 
improve  the  methods  of  raising  the  silkworms,  the 
quality  and  quantity  of  the  silk,  the  reeling  and  manu- 
facture. Soon  after  the  country  was  opened  to  foreign 
trade,  the  silkworm  disease  in  France  and  Italy  gave  a 
great  impetus  to  the  export  of  Japanese  egg  cards,  and 
they  are  also  shipped  over  the  empire  from  the  best 
breeding  places  in  large  numbers.     At  certain  seasons 


266  JAPAN. 

of  the  year  the  railroads  all  but  refuse  to  handle  ordi- 
nary freight,  they  are  so  taken  up  with  moving  eggs 
and  young  worms.  A  strange  contrast  all  this  to  the 
anxious  days  at  the  time  of  the  opening  of  the  coun- 
try, when  Japanese  statesmen  tried  to  prevent  the 
export  of  silk,  fearing  lest  the  supply  should  be  too 
small,  and  prices  should  rise  and  drive  it  out  of  the 
home  markets. 

A  dozen  years  ago  there  was  danger  that  Japanese 
silk  might  fall  behind  in  quality,  if  not  in  quantity, 
but  now  it  has  advanced  in  both,  and  more  than  holds 
its  own  in  the  markets  of  the  world.  Official  returns 
show  that  in  1895  one  hundred  and  thirty  thousand 
yen  worth  of  silk  goods  was  exported  ;  in  1899  the 
value  rose  to  twelve  million  yen.  France  gets  most 
of  it,  America  next;  so,  too,  of  raw  silk,  which 
reaches  still  higher  values.  Often  the  thread  is  spun 
and  woven  in  Japan,  dyed  in  France,  sold  in  America, 
and  p3rhaps  carried  across  the  continent  and  worn  on 
the  Pacific  slope.  So  the  skeins  that  run  through  the 
withered  old  hands  may  have  far  to  go. 

Weaving  must  certainly  have  been  known  to  the 
early  inhabitants  of  Japan,  for  the  Kojiki  relates  that 
Amaterasu,  the  Sun  Goddess,  was  weaving  with  her 
maidens,  when  her  rough  brother  broke  in  upon  her, 
with  his  unseemly  pranks ;  but  the  material  used  in 
prehistoric  times  may  have  been  hemp,  or  possibly 
bark  fibre,  such  as  the  Yezo  Ainu  use  to  the  present 
dav.     Hemp  was  certainly  used  at  a  very  early  period 


IKAO.  267 

in  Japan,  and  was  almost  the  only  wear  of  the  com- 
mon people  till  the  seventeenth  century,  when  the 
Tokugawa  encouraged  cotton,  and  it  came  into  general 
use  as  the  ordinary  dress  of  the  middle  and  lower 
classes.  According  to  one  legend,  an  Indian  queen 
shut  her  step-daughter  up  in  a  hollow  mulberry  trunk 
and  threw  her  into  the  sea,  and  she  was  carried  ashore 
on  the  coast  of  Japan  ;  the  people  cared  for  her  kindly, 
and  when  she  died  she  gratefully  turned  into  a  silk- 
worm. Sujin,  the  tenth  Emperor,  commanded  his  sub- 
jects to  bring  tribute  of  the  products  of  the  bow  and 
arrow — evidently  skins,  horns  and  tusks  of  animals, 
slain  in  hunting — and  also  of  women's  handiwork, 
which  must  have  been  materials  woven  or  embroidered. 
Probably  silk  formed  a  large  part  of  this  tribute,  as  it 
was  already  in  use  for  royal  gifts ;  thus  it  is  recorded 
that  Sujin's  son,  the  grandfather  of  Prince  Yamato- 
take,  received  a  prince  from  a  neighboring  country, 
and  on  his  departure  made  him  and  his  suite  presents 
of  scarlet  silk.  Also,  when  the  Empress  Jingo  con- 
quered Korea,  she  required,  besides  hostages  of  the 
King's  relatives,  that  "a  tribute  of  eighty  shiploads 
of  gold,  silver  and  silk  should  be  paid  annually." 
Better  still,  weavers  and  embroiderers  were  imported 
and  made  to  settle  in  Japan,  and  from  these  Korean 
artisans  came  two  great  families,  the  Hada  and  the 
Aya,  who  were  scattered  all  over  the  country  to  give 
instruction  in  silk-culture.  Finally,  in  the  fifth  cen- 
tury, along  with  the  introduction  of  Buddhism  and 


268  JAPAN. 

Chinese  writing,  an  envoy  sent  to  China  brought  back 
skilled  workmen  from  there,  and  a  department  of 
tailoring  was  founded  to  oversee  the  costumes  of  the 
court.  In  this  period,  so  much  silk  was  presented  to 
the  Emperor  that  a  special  storehouse  had  to  be  built 
to  receive  it. 

Brocade  was  always  the  special  wear  of  the  court. 
There  is  an  endless  variety  of  these  beautiful  old  fab- 
rics, some  of  which  are  kept  up  or  imitated  now ;  but 
the  modern  pieces  are  too  apt  to  be  colored  with  the 
imported  aniline  dyes,  and  have  neither  the  brilliancy 
nor  the  harmonious  quality  of  the  old  indigo  and  warm 
safflower  reds.  The  gold  used  in  the  old  brocades 
was  sometimes  a  genuine  gold  thread,  but  more  often 
the  well-known  paper-gold — a  silk  thread  wound  with 
paper  to  which  gold-foil  has  been  attached.  These 
fabrics  were  all,  of  course,  woven  on  hand-looms, 
much  like  those  used  in  Europe  before  Jacquard  looms 
were  invented  ;  the  threads  which  wrought  the  damask 
effect  were  handled  by  bobbins,  which  a  boy,  sitting 
above  the  loom,  threw  back  and  forth.  When  the 
court  adopted  foreign  dress,  in  1886,  the  brocade-weav- 
ers lost  their  best  patrons  and  the  world  a  great  deal  of 
beauty ;  yet,  however  one  may  regret  the  change  to 
our  inartistic  European  clothes,  it  is  impossible  not  to 
see  how  needful  it  was.  The  motive  was  not  only  to 
prevent  the  other  nations  from  laughing  and  looking 
down  on  the  long-sleeved  Orientals ;  with  the  costly 
and  elaborate  court  costumes  went  a  load  of  ancient 


IKAO.  269 

ceremonial  that  would  have  utterly  swamped  every- 
body, if  the  modern  conditions  of  court  life  were 
added  to  it.  Possibly,  if  Japan  had  not  been  so 
pushed  into  the  rush  of  things,  the  change  might  have 
been  brought  about  gradually,  without  sacrificing 
everything  of  the  old  life ;  but,  as  the  case  stood,  the 
only  way  was  to  get  rid  of  it  all  at  once. 

The  "Brocade  Banner"  played,  with  the  mirror, 
sword  and  jewel,  the  part  of  imperial  representative. 
When  the  Emperor  sent  Prince  Arisugawa,  with 
General  Saigo,  to  take  possession  of  rebellious  Yedo, 
in  1868,  he  gave  him  the  banner  in  token  of  his 
imperial  command  ;  and  there  can  be  little  doubt  of 
its  moral  influence  with  the  uncertain.  When  the 
imperial  forces  entered  Yedo,  all  the  loyalist  Samurai 
fastened  each  a  bit  of  brocade  on  the  sleeve  of  his 
dress,  whereupon  the  Tokugawa  clansmen  dubbed 
them  "  Kingire  "  (brocade  rags).  For  weeks  there 
were  constant  brawls  on  the  street,  between  the  clans- 
men and  these  Kingire,  ending  in  the  battle  of  Uyeno 
Park  and  the  retreat  of  the  Tokugawa  adherents  to 
Utsunomiya.  Now  the  sun-flag  leads  the  army,  with 
its  ball  of  the  red,  rising  sun  on  the  white  ground, 
and  the  banner  of  the  Red  Cross  Society  goes  ever 
beside  it ;  but  the  old-time  brocade  remains  a  symbol 
of  nobility,  whether  material  or  spiritual.  As  the  pretty 
saving  goes  :  "  Coat  of  rags,  but  heart  of  brocade  " — 
tsuzure  wo  kite  mo  kohoro  wa  nisfuki. 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

NIKKO — THE   SHRINES    OF   THE   SHOGUNS. 

"  Dans  toute  la  description  que  je  vais  essayer  maintenant,  je 
voudrais  pouvoir  rappeler  a  chaque  ligne  le  bruit  de  ces  eaux 
que  Ton  divine  si  froides,  et  la  voute  de  ces  feuillages  d'un  vert 
noiratre  etendue  au-dessus  des  choses,  et  cette  penombre  toujours,  et 
cette  sonorite  profond  de  dessous  bois." — Loti,  "  Japoneries  d'Au- 
toinnie." 

About  ninety  miles  north  and  east  of  Tokyo  the 
central  mountain  chain  lifts  into  a  range  of  graceful 
peaks,  wooded  almost  to  the  summit,  Nantaizan,  the 
highest,  reaching  over  eight  thousand  feet ;  the  region 
is  full  of  streams  and  waterfalls,  and  a  beautiful  lake, 
called  Chuzenji,  lies  four  thousand  feet  up  in  the  heart 
of  the  range.  So  wild  is  it  still  in  parts,  that  mon- 
keys swing  and  chatter  in  the  trees  near  the  Chuzenji 
road,  and  back  a  little  on  the  heights  there  are  only 
wood-cutters  or  charcoal-burners'  huts. 

"Could  a  Greek  come  back  here,  he  would  find  his 
'  soul-informed  rocks/  and  all  that  he  thought  divine 
or  superstitious,  even  to  the  very  i  impressions  of 
Aphrodite/  ...  I  feel  as  if  I  were  nearer  than  I  can 
be  through  books  to  the  old  world  we  try  to  rebuild 
by  collation  of  facts  and  documents." 

270 


NIKKO— THE  SHEINES  OF  THE  SHOGUNS.    271 

So  wrote  La  Farge,  whose  "  Letters  of  an  Artist " 
show  a  grasp  and  insight  into  the  deep  things  of 
Japanese  thought,  at  times  surpassing  even  Hearn's. 
In  truth,  this  universal  primitive  sense  of  holy  places, 
always  strong,  is  still  vividly  alive  in  Japan  ;  Mount 
Fuji,  Nara,  the  Ise  peninsula,  Enoshima,  and  Miya- 
jima  and  Kinkwazan — these  are  only  a  few  of  the 
hundreds  counted  special  abodes  of  the  Kami,  all  the 
way  up  to  the  solitary  Sail  Rock,  on  the  wild  coast  of 
the  Hokkaido,  to  which  fishermen  lower  their  sails. 
Pilgrimages  to  these  shrines  are  the  delight  of  the 
common  people,  particularly  of  those  elderly  couples 
who  have  become  "  inkyo  " — retired  in  favor  of  the 
younger  generation  ;  you  meet  them  everywhere,  gene- 
rally in  parties  of  a  dozen  or  more,  under  the  leader- 
ship of  the  most  experienced,  and  a  capital  time  they 
seem  to  have  of  it. 

The  name  Nikko  belongs  not  to  a  single  place,  but 
to  a  whole  mountain  region,  which  has  been  haunted 
of  divinity  from  the  earliest  times;  before  history 
began  there  was  a  purely  Shinto  shrine  here,  most  prob- 
ably several,  dedicated  to  the  spirits  of  the  mountains, 
both  bad  and  good.  The  most  troublesome  of  all  was 
a  vicious  old  rain-dragon,  who  lived  far  up  the  side  of 
Nantaizan,  and  from  his  cave  sent  out  terrible  storms 
which  devastated  the  neighboring  country.  He  seems 
to  have  continued  his  yearly  disturbance  without  let  or 
hindrance,  till  the  coming  of  that  arch-exorcist,  Kobo 
Daishi,  the  great  Buddhist  saint  of  the  ninth  century. 


272  JAPAN. 

He  at  last  subdued  the  dragon,  and  changed  the  name 
of  the  place  from  Niko,  Stormy  Mountains,  to  Nikko, 
Mountain  of  the  Sun's  Brightness.  Nevertheless,  even 
his  spells  would  seem  to  have  wrought  no  permanent 
cure;  since,  for  centuries  after,  a  certain  family  of 
Shinto  priests  went  twice  yearly,  at  the  period  of  the 
dragon's  accustomed  outbreaks,  and  performed  at  the 
cave  certain  mysterious  rites,  the  secret  of  which  was 
communicated  to  their  ancestor  by  the  saint  himself. 

But  Nikko  shares  the  honor  of  Kobo  Daishi's  min- 
istrations with  half  the  early  Buddhist  temples  in 
Japan  ;  instead  of  him,  it  has  a  patron  saint  all  its 
own,  one  Shodo  Shonin,  whose  whole  life  was  devoted 
to  discovering  and  worshiping  at  Nikko  and  Nan- 
taizan.  Shodo's  time  was  half  a  century  earlier  than 
Kobo's,  and  his  life  as  written  by  one  of  his  followers 
is  scarcely  less  full  of  marvels  than  the  Nara  saint's. 
His  parents,  desiring  a  son,  prayed  at  a  cave  sacred  to 
the  Thousand-handed  Kwannon,  which  is  far  in  the 
mountains  as  you  go  up  to  Ikao  from  the  plain  ;  and 
when  the  child  was  born  thunder  rolled  and  flowers 
and  sweet  perfumes  fell  from  the  sky.  When  the  boy 
was  grown,  he  stole  away  to  that  same  cave,  and  lived 
there  in  solitude  for  three  years,  fasting  and  seeing 
visions.  Then,  in  a  dream,  he  saw  a  shining  moun- 
tain, and  on  it  lay  a  great  sword  ;  and  awaking,  though 
it  was  midwinter,  he  felt  an  irresistible  impulse  to  seek 
the  place.  So,  toiling  through  the  snow,  after  many 
trials  he  reached  a  hill  whence  he  could  see  the  moun- 


NIKKO— THE  SHRINES  OF  THE  SHOGUNS.     273 

tain  of  his  dream.  Here  he  lived  another  three  years, 
practicing  the  austerities  of  mountain  hermits,  and  a 
miraculous  being  came  and  fed  him. 

This  trial  over,  Shodo  came  back  to  the  neighbor- 
hood of  his  home,  and  went  to  a  monastery  of  the 
Healing  Buddha,  where  Chinese  monks — this  was  in 
the  days  of  Buddhist  missionaries  from  the  west — re- 
ceived him  as  a  novice.  But  a  sheltered  monastic  life 
was  not  for  him.  After  five  years  of  probation,  he 
shouldered  his  bundle  of  images  and  holy  books,  and 
went  back  to  his  mountains  in  the  north.  As  he  went 
towards  them,  he  saw  in  the  distance  four  clouds  of 
different  colors  rising  straight  up  in  the  air ;  and  fol- 
lowing the  sign,  he  almost  reached  the  place,  only  to 
find  a  roaring  torrent  across  the  way  —  the  foamy, 
glacier-green  Daiyagawa,  plunging  down  its  gorge 
among  masses  of  tumbled  rock.  Then  Shodo  Shonin 
stopped  beside  the  stream  and  prayed ;  and  suddenly 
some  one  cried  to  him  from  the  other  bank,  and  looking 
over  he  saw  a  terrible  being,  larger  than  human,  wear- 
ing strange  garments  of  blue  and  black,  and  for  a 
necklace  a  string  of  skulls.  "  Trust  thyself  to  me/' 
he  cried  to  the  hermit;  "I  will  bear  thee  over,  even  as 
I  bore  the  pilgrim  Chang  over  the  River  of  Flowing 
Sand."  Then  Shodo  saw  that  in  his  hand  were  two 
snakes,  the  one  blue  and  the  other  green ;  and  the 
King  of  the  Deep  Sand  held  out  the  snakes,  and  they 
reached  over  and  changed  into  a  long  bridge  floating 
from  bank  to  bank,  as  it  were  a  rainbow  upon  a  cloud. 
Vol.  I.— 18 


274  JAPAN. 

And  Shodo  Shonin  took  up  his  pack  and  crossed  over 
the  bridge,  and  when  he  turned,  both  the  bridge  and 
the  terrible  king  had  vanished.  So  he  built  a  hut  and 
lived  there,  fasting  and  praying. 

Now,  after  a  time,  an  old  man  came  to  him  in  a 
dream  and  told  him  that  the  hill  beyond  was  the 
abode  of  four  gods,  who  kept  the  four  peaks.  Then 
Shodo  climbed  the  hill,  and  at  the  top  he  found  his 
four  rainbow  clouds  rising  into  the  air,  as  he  had  seen 
them  before ;  so  he  knew  that  the  vision  was  true,  and 
he  built  a  shrine  and  founded  the  monastery  of  the 
Four  Dragons.  By  this  time  disciples  gathered  about 
him;  and  with  them  he  tried  to  climb  the  last  peak, 
his  shining  mountain,  Nantaizan,  which  is  over  eight 
thousand  feet  high  and  not  a  little  steep.  Preparing 
themselves  by  religious  exercises,  they  climbed  till 
they  reached  lake  Chuzenji,  but  snow  and  thunder 
drove  them  back ;  and  they  returned  to  the  monastery 
to  fight  the  demons  with  spiritual  weapons.  And  so  at 
List,  after  fourteen  years,  Shodo  and  his  companions 
attained  the  summit  of  the  mountain,  the  place  of 
his  dreams.  Here  they  built  a  little  shrine,  and  at 
Chuzenji  a  Buddhist  temple  and  a  life-sized  image  of 
the  Thousand-handed  Kwannon,  Shodo's  protector. 
Likewise  they  built  at  Chuzenji  a  Shinto  temple  to  the 
Three  Guardians  of  Nantaizan,  the  god  Onamuji  and 
his  wife  and  son,  who  were  Gongen  (avatars  or  mani- 
festations) of  the  Buddha,  and  who  appeared  to  Shodo 
on  the  mountain  and  promised  to  watch  over  Japan. 


NIKKO-THE  SHRINES  OF  THE  SHOGUNS.     275 

The  people  believe  that  the  defeat  of  the  Mongol  inva- 
sion and  many  other  deliverances  are  due  to  their  care. 
Also,  beside  the  Daiyagawa,  Shodo  and  his  followers 
built  a  monastery  and  a  temple  to  the  King  of  the 
Deep  Sand ;  and  this  was  the  beginning  of  the  great 
Nikko  monastery. 

The  sanctuary  remained  an  important  one,  but  its 
great  glory  began  in  1617,  when  Tokugawa  Ieyasu 
was  buried  here,  and  the  present  temples  erected  in  his 
honor.  At  that  time  the  abbot  of  Nikko  was  one 
Tenkei,  a  man  of  great  ability,  who  had  been  tutor  to 
Ieyasu's  son,  the  Shogun  Hidetada ;  and  he  may  very 
probably  have  influenced  Ieyasu  in  his  choice  of  a  rest- 
ing place.  Yet  it  is  likely  that  he  had  in  mind  most 
of  all  the  prestige  and  advancement  of  the  Kwanto, 
the  provinces  about  Yedo,  which  it  was  ever  his  policy 
to  connect  firmly  to  his  house. 

For  the  Tokugawa  power  was  altogether  of  Ieyasu' s 
making.  Beginning  as  the  ruler  of  a  little  province, 
Mikawa,  which  lies  to  the  south  of  Owari  bay,  sur- 
rounded by  enemies,  and  forced  like  all  the  rest  to 
protect  himself  or  go  to  the  wall,  in  that  ungoverned 
period  of  the  sixteenth  century,  he  had  forced  his  way 
up  less  by  ability  as  a  general  than  by  genius  for  organ- 
ization. So  low  were  his  fortunes  at  one  time,  that  after 
a  defeat  at  the  hands  of  his  neighbor,  Takeda,  he  re- 
tired to  a  village  house  and  prepared  to  end  his  life. 
But,  as  he  was  about  to  strike,  the  dagger  turned  in 
his  hand,  and  thinking  something  must  be  wrong  with 


27G  JAPAN. 

the  blade,  he  stopped  to  try  it  on  an  iron  mortar.  The 
steel  point  entered  the  iron,  and  Ieyasu,  astonished,  was 
about  to  strike  himself  again,  when  his  followers  broke 
in  and  forced  him  to  escape  to  his  own  province. 
Joining  with  Ota  Nobunaga,  he  afterwards  defeated 
Takeda,  and  received  part  of  his  territory.  He  con- 
cluded that  the  spirit  of  the  dagger  had  made  it  turn 
aside,  and  from  that  time  weapons  made  by  the  Yoshi- 
mitsu  family,  who  had  fashioned  this,  were  considered 
especially  lucky  for  the  Tokugawa ;  while  the  famous 
Muramasa  blades  were  believed  to  have  a  particular 
grudge  against  any  one  of  the  name. 

Like  other  great  men,  Ieyasu  had  his  fancies,  and 
one  was  to  take  a  bath  just  before  going  into  battle. 
One  of  the  curious  instances  of  the  belief  in  luck  is 
the  "evil  averting  pillar"  at  one  of  the  gates  at 
Nikko,  the  beautiful  Yomei-mon;  the  delicate  ara- 
besque carving  on  it  is  done  upside  down,  that  the  flaw 
in  the  perfect  jewel  may  turn  aside  any  misfortune 
from  the  Tokugawa  house. 

Conqueror  though  he  was,  Ieyasu  averted  war  when- 
ever he  could.  When  the  Regent  Hideyoshi  died, 
Ieyasu  kept  on  good  terms  with  his  son  as  long  as  pos- 
sible, choosing  to  go  to  Kyoto  when  summoned  to  do 
st>,  though  he  knew  it  was  at  the  risk  of  his  life. 
"  The  country  needs  peace/'  he  told  the  councilors  who 
tried  to  dissuade  him.  "  Better  I  should  die  than 
bring  on  another  civil  war."  To  his  followers  he  was 
always  fair-minded   and    ready   to  listen,  even  to  a 


NIKKO— THE  SHRINES  OF  THE  SHOGUNS.    277 

rebuke.  Once  a  Samurai  came  to  him  and  presented 
a  paper  containing  a  lengthy  protest ;  Ieyasu  heard 
him  to  the  end,  and  thanked  and  dismissed  him  kindly, 
though  the  objections  were  worthless  and  unsuitable. 
To  reproach  one's  chief,  he  declared,  needs  far  more 
of  courage  than  to  fight  in  the  front  rank  of  battle. 
"  There  a  man  can  but  die,  honored  and  mourned  by 
his  lord ;  but  the  outspoken  servant,  whose  words 
offend  the  ear,  risks  the  mockery  of  his  comrades  and 
the  anger  of  his  master,  perhaps  a  prison  and  an  in- 
glorious death." 

Ieyasu  was  already  fifty-seven  when  the  Taiko 
Hideyoshi  died.  Two  years  later,  in  1600,  the  battle 
of  Sekigahara  gave  him  practical  control  of  the  em- 
pire, and  in  1603  he  was  appointed  Shogun.  He  only 
held  the  position  three  years,  resigning  it  to  his  son 
Hicletada  ;  but  the  retirement  was  only  a  nominal  one, 
setting  him  free  from  tedious  ceremony  and  leaving 
him  to  be  from  his  retreat  at  Shizuoka  the  actual  ruler 
and  organizer.  In  1615  he  took  part  in  the  final  over- 
throw of  Hideyoshi's  son  at  Osaka  castle,  and  being 
wounded  by  a  spear  thrust,  died  in  the  following  year 
at  the  age  of  seventy-five.  His  son  at  once  set  in 
hand  the  tomb  and  mortuary  chapels  at  Xikko,  and  in 
less  than  a  year  the  body  was  brought  with  great 
pomp  from  its  temporary  resting  place  at  Shizuoka, 
and  interred  in  its  bronze  tomb  on  the  mountain. 
Thither  pilgrims  have  thronged  ever  since  for  the 
honor  of   "Gongen  Sama  " — the  beatified  Shogun  — 


278  JAPAN. 

and  yet  more  perhaps  for  the  splendor  of  the  temples 
and  the  romantic  beauty  of  the  place. 

Beauty  of  situation  is,  indeed,  the  keynote  of  Nikko. 
The  charm  is  heightened  by  the  gradual  approach,  and 
must  have  been  even  more  so  in  the  old  days  when 
Daimyo  and  common  pilgrim  alike  followed  the  post 
road  up  from  Yedo  across  the  wide  plain  toward  these 
peaks,  seen  first  far  off,  cloud-crowned  and  opal-tinted, 
then  lifting  near  and  green ;  and  from  Utsunomiya — 
an  important  garrison  town  in  Ieyasu's  time  and  later 
— turning  eastward,  upward,  into  the  very  heart  of  the 
hills.  In  those  days  there  were  ninety  miles  of  smooth 
road,  shaded  by  magnificent  cryptomeria  trees ;  they 
are  still  standing  for  some  twenty  miles  above  Utsu- 
nomiya, but  the  rest  nearly  all  perished  in  the  troubled 
years  that  followed  the  opening  of  the  country. 

Nowadays  everybody  comes  by  train  in  five  hours 
from  Tokyo,  and  is  set  down  at  the  end  of  Hachi-ishi 
village,  to  be  pulled  by  jinrikisha  a  mile  and  a  half 
more  to  the  hotels  and  the  temples.  "  Kanaya's  "  is 
on  the  near  side  of  the  Daiyagawa,  the  "Nikko"  and 
others  in  Iri-machi  village  on  the  temple  side.  Where 
Shodo  Shonin  went  over  on  the  rainbow  snakes  stands 
the  famous  Sacred  Bridge,  once  reserved  for  the  Shogun 
— representative  of  the  Emperor — now  for  the  Em- 
peror himself  and  the  imperial  family.  It  was  here 
that  General  Grant  won  everlasting  honor  for  himself 
and  his  people  by  declining  an  invitation  to  cross. 
The  bridge  is  a  remarkable  structure  quite  apart  from 


NIKKO— THE  SHRINES  OF  THE  SHOGUNS.    279 

its  odor  of  sanctity ;  the  supports  on  either  side  are 
great  stone  uprights  and  cross-pieces,  treated  like 
wooden  beams,  on  which  rest  heavy  black  rafters,  and 
then  the  bridge  itself,  painted  with  dull  vermilion 
lacquer  like  the  temples.  Dull,  that  is  to  say,  in  the 
sense  of  an  unpolished  or  matt  surface ;  the  red  is 
strong,  without  being  vivid,  being  made  of  a  mixture 
of  red  cinnabar  (mercuric  sulphide)  with  the  brownish 
lacquer  juice.  The  varnish  helps  much  to  preserve 
the  wood,  and  the  bridge  has  only  needed  repair  four 
or  five  times  in  its  three  hundred  years. 

Just  below  the  red  bridge  is  another  for  common 
mortals,  by  which  the  road  crosses  and  runs  along  the 
other  side  of  the  river  and  off  into  the  mountains, 
and  nearly  opposite  an  avenue  leads  up  through  the 
forest  into  the  sacred  enclosure.  Here  nothing  on 
wheels  may  come,  nor  any  beast  of  burden ;  the  path 
climbs  between  high  banks  faced  with  blocks  of  stone, 
spotted  with  gray-green  moss  and  lichen,  among  giant 
cryptomerias,  the  branches  far  above  crossing  so 
thickly  that  scarcely  a  ray  of  sunlight  strikes  along 
the  gray  mast-like  trunks;  reaching  by  and  by  an 
open  forecourt  and  a  little  garden,  beyond  which  a  tall 
pagoda  shows  red  through  the  trees,  and  a  great  stone 
torii  marks  the  entrance  to  the  monastery  and  the 
shrines  of  Ieyasu. 

The  Mangwanji,  or  monastery  enclosure  proper, 
stands  a  little  to  the  right,  and  in  it  is  the  so-called  Hall 
of  the  Three  Buddhas,  named  from  the  three  gilded 


280  JAPAN. 

images  in  it — Amida,  between  the  Thousand-handed 
Kwannon  and  the  Horse-headed  Kwannon,  who  has 
three  faces,  and  a  small  head  of  a  horse  over  the  cen- 
tral one.  In  the  open  space  before  this  San-Butsu 
Do  there  is  a  curious  slender  column  of  black  bronze, 
supported  by  four  rails,  making  a  cross  running  out  to 
bronze  posts  at  the  four  corners  of  the  high  stone 
pedestal ;  the  upper  part  of  the  shaft  is  made  of  seven 
lotus  flowers,  four  erect  and  three  inverted,  from  the 
petals  of  which  hang  little  tinkling  bells.  The  form 
is  evidently  of  Hindu  origin,  and  it  is  supposed  to 
have  the  power  of  averting  misfortune.  Near  the 
entrance  there  is  a  carved  bronze  lantern,  a  marvel  of 
design  in  low  relief.  Many  of  these  accessories  were 
added  at  different  times  by  vassals  of  the  Tokugawa 
house,  as,  for  instance,  the  pagoda,  which  was  set  up 
after  Iemitsu's  death  by  a  Daimyo  of  the  southwest. 
The  little  landscape  garden  is  exceedingly  quaint  and 
pretty,  especially  when  the  iris  is  in  bloom,  in  a  series 
of  beds  irrigated  by  the  stream  which  ripples  down 
from  a  spring  higher  up  the  mountain.  Everywhere, 
as  Loti  says,  there  is  the  sound  of  running  water,  of 
brooks  and  waterfalls,  hurrying  to  join  the  deeper- 
voiced  Daiyagawa  in  the  ravine. 

A  large  granite  torn,  gift  of  a  Daimyo  of  Iviushiu, 
stands  before  the  wide  flagged  walk  leading  to  the 
mortuary  chapels.  Owing  to  their  position  on  the 
steep  hillside,  these  buildings  cannot  follow  the  con- 
ventional    Buddhist    grouping,    which    places    bell, 


NIKKO— THE  SHRINES  OF  THE  SHOGUNS.    281 

shrine,  treasury,  water-tank,  and  so  on,  in  more  or  less 
regular  positions  about  an  open  court.  Here  instead 
is  a  series  of  terraces,  faced  with  stone  and  connected 
by  massive  stone  steps,  all  shut  in  around  and  behind 
by  the  dark,  towering  cryptomerias  of  the  forest ;  on 
each  gray  terrace  stands  a  cluster  of  buildings,  glowing 
with  color,  quivering  with  the  play  of  light  and 
shadow  on  a  maze  of  graceful  ornament,  like  some 
jeweled  altar  in  the  gloom  of  a  vast  cathedral.  The 
Avide,  heavy  roofs,  curving  upward  at  the  corners,  rest 
on  a  wilderness  of  rafters  and  cornices,  ending  in 
dragons  and  strange  beasts ;  every  column  is  wrought 
over  in  low  relief,  every  space  carved  with  frieze  and 
panel — birds,  flowers,  monkeys — handled  with  a  free- 
dom and  naturalness,  a  boldness  of  color,  that  almost 
take  one's  breath.  Each  terrace  is  enclosed  and  en- 
tered by  a  roofed  gate  :  first,  the  Ni-o-mon,  Gate  of  the 
Two  Kings,  or  guardian  gods — the  images  have  been 
removed  to  the  gate  of  Iemitsu's  temple  and  replaced 
by  the  lion-like  Chinese  monsters  called  Inu ;  then 
Yomei-mon,  most  beautiful  of  all,  with  carved  white 
columns  and  birds  and  peony-arabesques,  and  Kara- 
mon,  the  Chinese  gate,  which  leads  to  the  main  shrine, 
through  an  enclosing  wall  of  carved  and  painted 
trellis  which  surrounds  the  entire  court ;  and  not  least 
famous,  the  little  door  leading  to  the  hillside  and  the 
tomb,  over  which  Left-handed  Jingoro,  the  master 
carver,  placed  a  sleeping  cat,  as  they  say,  to  keep 
away  mice  from  the  temple.     They  say  the  present 


282  JAPAN. 

one  is  not  the  original  pussy ;  she  used  to  go  off  mous- 
ing of  nights,  and  finally  stayed  away  altogether,  and 
Jingoro  had  to  make  a  less  restless  guardian  in  her 
place. 

A  heavy  fence,  painted  red  like  the  bridge,  encloses 
the  first  court,  which  has  two  platforms,  divided  by 
steps ;  in  the  middle  of  the  first  platform  is  a  great 
bronze  torii,  bearing  the  Tokugawa  crest  in  gold  on 
uprights  and  tie-beam — three  holyhock  leaves,  enclosed 
in  a  circle.  The  form  of  the  leaves  is  so  like  the 
well-known  "  leaf  and  dart "  motive,  that  it  must 
surely  have  come  from  the  other  end  of  Asia — brought, 
like  so  much  else,  with  the  "  Grseco-Buddhistic  "  art 
of  the  Chinese  missionaries.  These  Nikko  torii  are 
all  of  the  modified,  or  Ryobu  Shinto  form,  their  bases 
resting  in  sockets,  instead  of  directly  on  the  ground, 
and  the  ends  of  the  cross-beams  curving  upward. 
Near  the  bronze  torii  stands  a  tall  pine,  which  is  said 
to  be  the  very  tree  which  Ieyasu  carried  about  with 
him  in  his  litter;  after  his  death  they  set  it  in  the 
ground  near  his  temple,  and  it  grew  up  to  its  full 
height  in  the  forest. 

On  this  platform  are  the  three  treasuries,  where 
they  keep  many  relics  of  Ieyasu,  and  the  stable 
of  the  sacred  white  horse,  who  seems  to  be  sacred 
chiefly  because  he  is  an  albino ;  he  has  an  extraordi- 
narily vicious  temper,  even  for  a  Japanese  horse.  His 
business  is  to  draw  the  sacred  car  at  festivals.  Across 
the  front  of  the  stable  is  a  charming  carved  frieze  of 


NIKKO— THE  SHRINES  OF  THE  SHOGUNS.    283 

monkeys  playing ;  one  covers  his  eyes  with  his  hands, 
another  his  ears,  a  third  his  month,  in  token  that  we 
should  see  nothing,  hear  nothing,  say  nothing  evil. 

The  second  terrace  is  faced  like  the  first  with  a 
mossy  stone  wall,  on  which  rests  a  stone  balustrade 
cut  out  of  great  blocks ;  at  the  back  of  the  terrace 
auother  flight  of  stone  steps  leads  up  to  the  Yomei- 
mon,  an  exquisite  little  building,  which  somehow  puts 
one  in  mind  of  the  tiny  gem  of  a  church  beside  the 
Arno,  in  Pisa,  Santa  Maria  della  Spina.  There  is  the 
same  perfection  of  proportion,  the  same  sense  of  quaint 
elegance  and  mnrvelous  refinement  of  detail ;  though 
here  the  comparison  must  stop.  Nothing,  of  course, 
could  be  more  unlike  Gothic  forms — unlike  any  forms 
known  to  the  West — than  the  curved  overshadowing 
roof,  with  its  white  tiles  and  gilded  ridgepole,  its 
carved  and  gilded  cornices,  and  the  grinning  Chinese 
dragons  in  the  gables,  or  the  pawing  unicorns  which 
form  the  capitals  of  the  columns.  A  little  balcony, 
with  carved  and  colored  panels  in  the  railing,  runs 
round  the  second  story,  well  under  the  eaves  of  the 
great  roof,  and  supported  on  a  mass  of  carved  beams 
and  brackets  which  rest  in  turn  on  the  white  and  gold 
architrave  and  columns ;  the  inner  walls  and  the  side* 
of  the  niches  are  likewise  white  and  gold,  wrought  all 
over  with  peony-arabesques  in  low  relief,  like  the 
laciest  of  diaper  patterns  ;  it  makes  an  admirable  back- 
ground for  the  life-sized  seated  figures  in  either  niche. 
To  the  right  and  left  of  the  gate  a  high-roofed  wall 


284  JAPAN. 

rests  on  the  stone  facing  of  the  next  terrace ;  this  wall, 
too,  is  divided  by  red  lacquered  posts  and  rails  into 
panels  of  birds  and  flowers,  peacocks,  pheasants,  pine 
trees,  and  oak  and  plum ;  and  below  these  again  are 
narrower  bands,  in  which  ducks  and  other  water-fowl 
splash  in  curling  conventional  waves. 

Many  votive  lanterns  and  candelabra  stand  about 
the  courts — there  are  one  hundred  and  eighteen  lan- 
terns all  told — the  gifts  of  Daimyo  and  of  subject 
states,  of  which  last  Japan  considered  Holland  to  be 
one.  The  most  beautiful  is  the  bronze  Korean  lantern, 
called  also  the  revolving  lantern,  because  it  turns  on  a 
pivot ;  it  probably  did  not  come  from  Korea,  but  from 
Europe  by  the  hands  of  the  Dutch.  A  great  bell, 
gift  of  the  King  of  Lu  Chu,  hangs  in  a  fine  bell 
tower,  which  is  balanced  by  the  drum  tower  on  the 
other  side. 

At  the  edge  of  this  second  platform  is  the  temple  of 
Ieyasu's  patron  saint  Yakushi,  one  of  the  Five  Bud- 
dhas  of  Wisdom — the  Buddha  at  whose  monastery 
Shodo  Shonin  studied;  it  still  retains  the  Buddhist 
furnishings,  removed  from  most  temples  since  the 
Restoration  reinstated  Shinto ;  and  the  interior  is  rich 
with  color  and  gold,  in  a  soft  half  light  that  filters 
through  dangling  bamboo  curtains,  subduing  strange 
forms  of  dragons  and  Buddhas,  half  revealing  the 
shrines  and  lanterns  and  tall  vases  and  embroidered 
altar  cloths ;  over  all  there  is  a  delicate  smell  of  in- 
cense, not  heavy  with  centuries  of  dirt,  but  mingled 


NIKKO— THE  SHRINES  OF  THE  SHOGUNS.    285 

with  the  sweet  pine-scented  air  blowing  gently  through 
the  transparent  hangings  and  carved  screens.  Pres- 
ently a  priest  strikes  one  of  the  melodious  gongs, 
stroke  by  stroke,  with  long  pauses  between ;  a  band  of 
pilgrims  kneel  on  the  pavement  without,  while  another 
priest  recites  the  noon-day  office  in  a  droning  sing- 
song, rising  and  falling  in  a  mournful  chant.  Strangely 
like  the  Romish  ritual,  yet  strangely  different,  too ; 
most  of  all  different,  perhaps,  in  the  sense  of  out-of- 
doors,  of  belonging  to  the  forest. 

For,  after  all,  the  greatest  marvel  of  Nikko  is  the 
way  in  which  all  this  wealth  of  detail,  this  profusion 
of  ornament,  is  kept  in  place  and  subordinated  to  a 
central  thought ;  no  part  is  an  end  in  itself,  not  the 
individual  temples  even  ;  they  are  cellce,  shrines  of  the 
sacred  grove,  one  with  it  as  by  a  sort  of  instinct.  The 
want  of  height,  of  mass,  is  supplied  completely  by  the 
trees ;  even  the  color-scheme  has  a  strange  unity,  as 
if  it  were  the  forest-motive  accented,  set  in  a  higher 
key.  Those  raw  emeralds,  toned  in  the  shadow  of  the 
roofs,  are  repeated  where  the  sun  glints  across  a  blue- 
green  branch  of  cryptomeria  ;  the  fretted  white  columns 
are  lighter  but  not  less  tender  than  the  straight  gray 
trunks;  and  where  the  bark  breaks  away  in  places 
you  see  almost  a  repetition  of  the  vermilion  lacquer  in 
its  strong  dusky  red.  And  the  lavish  use  of  vermilion 
becomes  clear,  too ;  after  all,  it  is  but  little  in  propor- 
tion to  the  mass  of  surrounding  grays  and  greens; 
just  enough,  no  more. 


286  JAPAN. 

The  next  terrace  is  a  small  one,  and  contains  only 
the  building  for  the  sacred  car  and  other  paraphernalia 
of  the  festivals,  and  the  stage  for  the  sacred  Kagura 
dance.  A  Shinto  priestess  of  the  imperial  house  is 
always  in  charge  here.  A  little  open  building  close 
by  is  used  for  burning  the  fragrant  cedar  wood  during 
the  rites. 

At  the  back  of  this  enclosure  the  Kara-mon,  with 
its  inlaid  pictures  of  dragons  and  plum  trees,  leads  to  the 
last  terrace  of  all,  which  is  almost  filled  by  the  Honden 
or  oratory  ;  this  is  really  not  one  building,  but  a  series 
of  halls  or  chambers  opening  one  behind  the  other. 
The  great  folding  doors  of  the  entrance  are  gorgeous 
with  carved  and  gilded  peonies,  but  beyond  it  the 
empty  matted  hall  in  its  cool  quiet  seems  most  restful 
after  so  much  splendor.  The  ante-chambers  at  either 
end  are  again  magnificent  with  polychrome  carving 
and  pictures  of  lions  on  a  gold  background  :  while  the 
coffered  ceilings  glow  with  Buddhist  angels  and  chrys- 
anthemums and  the  Tokugawa  crest,  and  again  and 
again  repeated  is  the  mystic  Howo  bird,  which  seems 
created  out  of  memories  of  pheasants  and  peacocks, 
and  the  southern  bird  of  paradise,  which  could  never 
have  come  so  far  north  as  Japan. 

Only  the  mirror  and  gohei  remain  in  the  oratory ; 
the  Buddhist  trappings  have  all  been  swept  away, 
leaving  an  empty  hall.  A  lower  chamber  beyond 
leads  to  the  gilded  doors  of  the  inner  chapel,  beyond 
which  strangers  may  not  go. 


NIKKO-THE  SHRINES  OF  THE  SIIOGUNS.    287 

But  the  ashes  of  the  Shogun  are  not  here.  Off  to 
the  right  more  flights  of  stone  steps  lead  far  up  the 
hill  to  a  little  platform  having  a  stone  balustrade  and 
a  heavy  bronze  door,  within  which  stands  a  bronze  cyl- 
inder under  a  square  bronze  roof,  turning  up  at  the 
corners ;  a  stork  candelabrum,  an  incense  burner,  and 
a  great  bronze  vase  holding  a  brass  lotus  are  the  only 
accessories.  All  is  plain  even  to  bareness  up  there 
alone  among  the  trees ;  "  the  acme  of  costly  simplic- 
ity," said  LaFarge,  and  De  la  Mazeliere,  "  autant  le 
temple  est  riche,  autant  le  tombe  est  simple  ;  en  bas  la 
gloire  du  heros-dieu,  en  haut  les  restes  de  lnomme." 
It  is  a  concrete  expression  of  the  Buddhist  doctrine, 
All  earthly  things  must  pass. 

Ieyasu  was  perhaps  too  great  to  have  a  great  son ; 
it  was  the  grandson,  Iemitsu,  son  of  Hidetada,  who 
carried  out  his  political  plans  and  completed  his  work 
of  centralization.  Iemitsu's  group  of  temples  lies  to 
the  left,  reached  by  another  fine  avenue  of  cryptome- 
rias ;  something  iu  their  situation,  closed  as  they  are 
in  the  hollow  of  the  hill,  lends  them  a  remoteness  and 
secluded  charm  that  rivals  the  wide  terraces  of  Ieyasu. 
Built  less  than  fifty  years  after  his,  they  are  almost 
identical  in  style ;  on  the  whole  rather  less  magnifi- 
cent, but  not  less  beautiful.  The  tomb  is  on  the  hill 
behind  them,  a  structure  of  plain  gold  bronze  like 
Ieyasu's,  but  the  shiny  brass  characters  on  the  bronze 
gate  detract  somewhat  from  the  dignity  of  the  effect. 
Taken  together,  the  two  groups  of  temples  stand  for 


288  JAPAN. 

what  is  undoubtedly  the  high-water  mark  of  art  in 
Japan. 

Iemitsu  was  chosen  for  the  Shogunate  during  his 
grandfather's  lifetime.  Hidetada  had  two  sons,  of 
whom  the  younger  was  gentler  and  more  popular,  at 
least  with  a  certain  clique,  and  while  they  were  still 
boys  intrigues  were  afoot  to  get  the  younger  named 
heir.  Tradition  has  it  that  these  schemes  were  frus- 
trated by  the  energy  and  courage  of  Iemitsus  gov- 
erness, the  Lady  Kasuga,  wife  of  a  Daimyo  who  had 
forfeited  his  estates.  When  she  knew  of  the  plots 
against  her  charge,  she  set  off  alone  for  Shizuoka, 
gained  admittance  to  the  ex-Shogun  in  his  retreat,  and 
besought  him  to  make  the  choice  between  the  lads. 
Ieyasu  had  them  both  brought  before  him,  and  sub- 
jected them  to  close  tests  of  character,  and  as  Lady 
Kasuga  had  brought  up  her  boy  in  the  stern  simplicity 
of  warlike  times,  he  proved  himself  altogether  worthy, 
and  Ieyasu  proclaimed  him  Shogun  after  Hidetada. 
When  the  lady  was  asked  to  name  her  reward,  she 
desired  that  her  husband  might  be  restored  to  his 
title  and  estates ;  but  the  husband  declared  such  a  re- 
quest was  improper  and  dishonoring  to  him,  and 
divorced  her.  Then  the  ex-Shogun  offered  to  make 
Lady  Kasuga  Daimyo  in  her  own  right,  but  she  re- 
fused to  be  honored  above  her  husband  ;  and  in  the 
end  Lord  Kasuga  was  reinstated  on  his  own  merits, 
and  forgave  and  restored  his  wife — all  of  which 
appears  in  a  modern  drama  quoted  by  Osman  Edwards. 


NIKKO— THE  SHRINES  OF  THE  SHOGUNS.  289 

Iemitsu's  problems  were  very  different  from  his 
grandfather's ;  the  one  was  the  last  of  the  great  six- 
teenth century  adventurers,  the  other  inherited  abso- 
lute power  and  that  tradition  of  conservatism  which 
was  to  harden  later  into  an  almost  Chinese  rigidity. 
Ieyasu's  high  places  had  been  fortified  camps ;  Iemit- 
su's was  a  brilliant  court,  and  he  was  a  patron  of  liter- 
ature and  all  the  arts.  In  truth,  during  Iemitsu's 
youth  there  was  danger  of  a  relapse  into  over-luxuri- 
ousness,  which  was  checked  in  time  by  the  faithful 
councilors  bequeathed  by  Ieyasu,  the  old  Daimyo  Abe 
and  Okubo.  Their  remonstrance  with  the  young  man 
forms  the  subject — or,  rather,  one  of  the  subjects — of 
a  lengthy  and  involved  drama,  in  the  course  of  which 
Okubo  rides  to  the  Shogun's  castle  in  a  tub,  as  a 
demonstration  against  the  soft  living  of  the  younger 
knights.  In  an  amusing  dialogue  he  explains  to  a 
friend  how  the  Shogun  has  lately  told  him  that  since 
he  is  now  seventy-eight  years  of  age,  he  may  ride  to 
the  castle  in  a  norimon  like  the  other  ministers.  "  But, 
unfortunately,  I  have  nothing  to  ride  except  my 
favorite  wild  horses ;  still,  I  thought  it  would  be  very 
impolite  to  my  lord  to  disobey  his  kind  advice,  and 
after  much  consideration  and  anxiety  I  found  this  tub 
and  put  the  poles  on  as  you  see.  Isn't  it  a  splendid 
idea  ?"  Fine,  says  the  friend  ;  but — well — really,  a 
vassal  of  the  Shogun  must  be  able  to  get  a  proper 
norimon,  instead  of  that  queer  thing;  if  he  happens 
to  be  hard  up,  any  of  his  friends — and  so  on  and  so 
Vol.  L— 19 


290  JAPAN. 

on.  Best  of  thanks,  says  Okubo ;  but  after  all  it  is  no 
queerer  than  a  sliding  door,  on  which  he  has  been  more 
than  once  carried  from  battle  ;  and  what  with  arming 
his  men  and  looking  after  poor  friends  and  unlucky 
Eonin,  if  he  once  began  buying  useless  things  like 
litters,  he  would  soon  be  calling  on  all  his  friends  for 
help.  So  off  he  goes,  and  dances  a  spear  dance  before 
the  Shogun — an  improvization  in  the  style  of  the  No 
dances — ending  with  the  solemn  last  charge  of  Ieyasu  : 

" '  Though  we  conclude  the  war  and  restore  peace  to 
the  nation,  it  is  not  an  easy  task  to  keep  it  tranquil. 
Though  we  secure  control  over  the  country,  if  we  do 
not  know  how  to  govern  it,  it  will  fall  into  disorder. 
After  my  death,  if  my  grandson  go  astray,  there  is  no 
one  but  you  to  remonstrate  with  him.'  Thus  did 
Gongen  Sama  lay  a  charge  upon  me.  Subjects  always 
pattern  after  their  lord,  and  now  all  the  Daimyo  and 
officers  have  become  luxurious,  and  the  government  is 
becoming  disorderly  and  corrupt.  O,  my  dear  lord, 
to  me  the  sorrows  of  the  people  are  like  the  torment- 
ing fires  of  hell  !  "  * 

The  young  Shogun  acknowledges  his  fault,  and 
vows  to  put  away  his  follies  ;  Okubo  dances  a  final  No, 
celebrating  the  glory  of  Minamoto  no  Yoritomo,  Iemit- 
su's  ancestor,  and  the  curtain  falls  on  the  prosperity 
of  the  Tokugawa  line. 

1  Translated  by  K.  Kimura. 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 

NIKKO    AND    LAKE    CHUZENJI. 

The  chapels  of  the  Shoguns  are  of  such  surpassing 
interest  that  one  almost  forgets  the  other  shrines  of 
Nikko ;  vet,  if  it  were  anywhere  else,  the  Shinto  tem- 
ple of  the  "  Three  Guardian  Deities "  of  Nantaizan 
would  be  thought  quite  worth  looking  at.  It  stands 
between  the  two  great  groups,  and,  like  them,  is  bow- 
ered  in  green  depths  of  forest.  A  little  lower  than 
the  main  building  stands  a  kind  of  double  house, 
connected  by  a  covered  gallery,  and  all  painted 
with  the  Buddhistic  red,  which,  it  is  true,  the  modi- 
fied Ryobu  Shinto  allowed,  instead  of  the  purer 
uncolored  wood.  This  temple,  however,  is  not  Shinto 
at  all,  but  Buddhist,  and  dedicated  to  A  mi  da  and 
Fugen,  and  Kishi  Bojin,  the  protector  of  children. 
Kishi  Bojin  was  once  a  wicked  ogress,  who  devoured 
children,  but  she  was  converted  and  became  a  Bud- 
dhist nun ;  so,  now  beatified,  she  atones  for  her  evil 
deeds  by  taking  special  care  for  the  little  ones — a  task 
which  she  shares  with  the  benign  Jizo.  Mothers 
bring  pathetic  tokens  to  her  shrine — the  little  frocks 
and  doll*  and  toys  of  their  lost  children.     The  Hon- 

291 


292  JAPAN. 

den,  or  oratory,  behind  the  Shinto  temple,  contains  a 
number  of  interesting  relics,  among  them  specimens 
of  the  curious  curved  pendants  called  maga-tama — 
"  curved  jewels  " — which  used  to  be  run  on  a  string 
and  worn  as  necklaces  or  girdles.  The  shape  is  most 
nearly  like  a  comma,  the  hole  for  the  cord  passing 
through  the  thick  part.  These  maga-tama  were  proba- 
bly worn  as  part  of  a  dress  of  ceremony  as  late  as  the 
seventh  century.  In  the  double  temple  are  still  more 
relics,  notably  Yoritomo's  bones,  which  ought  by 
rights  to  be  at  his  own  temple  in  Kamakura,  where  he 
is  supposed  to  be  buried.  However,  such  multiplica- 
tions are  not  unknown  in  other  lands.  Behind  these 
temples  are  the  tombs  of  Tenkei,  the  abbot  of  Ieyasu's 
time,  and  a  number  of  less  distinguished  prelates. 

Above  the  red  bridge  the  right  bank  comes  down 
in  a  steep  rocky  cliff,  round  which  the  river  hurries 
with  a  great  deal  of  noise  and  foam  ;  a  little  farther 
up,  the  sides  of  the  ravine  slope  more  gently,  and 
here  a  small  footpath  crosses  over  to  the  right  side  by 
a  bridge  of  logs  and  brush,  and  leads  along  the  river 
to  the  "  Hundred  Gods."  They  are  ranged  in  an 
irregular  row  along  the  bank,  a  gravely  quaint  assem- 
bly of  stone  images  of  Amida,  all  seated  in  the  con- 
ventional attitude  of  contemplation,  feet  crossed  under 
the  robe,  and  thumbs  together  in  the  lap.  Some  are 
upright,  some  toppling,  all  weather-worn  and  green 
with  moss  and  splashed  with  gray  and  black  lichens. 
The  largest  sits  at  the   far  end  of  the  row,  looking 


NIKKO  AND  LAKE  CHUZENJI.  293 

down  the  path,  an  oddly  impressive  figure  against  the 
trees ;  there  is  something   in   the  pose  of  these  stone 

Buddhas  as  immovable  as  the  rocks  themselves not 

only  motionless,  but  as  if  they  had  never  wished  to 
move.  The  tradition  is  that  no  one  can  ever  count 
the  hundred  up  exactly  ;  however  often  one  goes  over 
them,  the  tally  never  comes  out  the  same.  One  figure 
was  washed  away  in  a  freshet  some  years  ago  and 
landed  some  distance  down  stream,  where  the  villagers 
joyfully  received  and  cared  for  it. 

Back  across  the  foamy  green  river  is  a  charmino- 
little  garden,  the  Dainichi  Do,  where  you  may  sit  on 
the  edge  of  the  little  tea-house  and  sip  pale  tea  and 
nibble  delicate  tasteless  cakes,  looking  out  to  the 
valley  and  the  mountains,  and  hearing  now  and  then 
over  the  rush  of  the  river  a  far-off  temple  bell,  full 
and  deep  and  sweet,  with  a  brooding  sound  like  the 
call  of  doves  in  the  wood.  It  is  a  beautiful  view  at 
all  times,  but  most  of  all  when  the  maples  turn  and 
the  color  flames  up  to  the  very  peaks,  and  loses  itself 
on  Nantaizan  in  purple  and  amethyst.  The  jinriki- 
sha  men  carry  the  kurumas  up  through  the  garden,  and 
so  out  on  to  a  pretty  hillside  road  leading  back  through 
the  upper  village  to  the  hotels  again. 

Nikko  is  particularly  rich  in  gardens.  Besides  the 
Dainichi  Do  and  the  monastery  enclosure,  there  is  the 
public  park,  and  pretty  specimens  of  landscape  art 
around  Kanaya's  and  the  other  hotels ;  and  about  a 
mile  from  Irimachi,  the  village  across  the   stream,  is 


294  JAPAN. 

the  cool,  shady  deer  park — a  government  preserve, 
which  anyone  may  enter  for  the  asking,  if  he  presents 
a  visiting  card.  The  grounds  and  building  belong- 
ing to  the  monastery,  which  used  to  be  reserved  for 
guests  of  rank,  is  now  the  summer  palace  of  the  little 
imperial  princesses,  who  come  up  from  Tokyo,  with 
their  ladies,  almost  every  year. 

There  is  nothing  even  remotely  like  a  town  at  Nikko ; 
everywhere  the  forest  is  all  about  you,  as  in  some  wild 
part  of  the  Adirondacks.  The  village  of  unpainted 
little  houses  stretches  out,  as  Japanese  villages  do,  for 
a  mile  along  the  old  highway,  and  another  small 
group  of  cottages  lies  across  the  river  among  the 
hills.  As  in  all  places  where  Japanese  pilgrims  come, 
the  inhabitants  frankly  live  by  supplying  their  wants, 
and  especially  their  desire  for  small  purchases  to  take 
home  as  gifts  ;  the  larger  part  of  these  being  Avood- 
work,  black  "  Sendai-wood "  trays,  with  pictures  of 
the  red  bridge  or  the  temples  cut  in  intaglio,  and 
curious  cups  and  bowls  and  tobacco  trays,  carved  out 
of  fantastic  knots  and  roots.  This  is  done  in  and 
around  Nikko  itself,  and  there  is  a  great  deal  of  lac- 
quer besides,  brought  for  sale  from  Wakayama,  in  the 
neighboring  province.  Much  fur  comes  to  Nikko 
from  the  mountains — skins  of  fox  and  badger  and 
hare,  and  sometimes  a  monkey  skin  or  a  black  bear. 
The  women  make  delightful  soft  slippers,  without  any 
heels — most  comforting  of  a  cold  morning.  Deer- 
skin rugs  are  to  be  had,  too ;  and  a  good  deal  of  the 


NIKKO  AND   LAKE  CHUZENJI.  295 

fur  makes   its  way  to  Tokyo,  when  the  tourist  and 
pilgrim  season  is  over. 

Many  Japanese  folk-stories  concern  themselves  with 
the  badger,  who  plays  some  of  the  parts  which  belong 
to  the  wolf  in  other  countries,  and  some  which  seem 
more  appropriate  for  the  fox  or  jackal.  One  very 
curious  notion  is  that  he  loves  to  distend  his  hairy 
stomach  and  drum  on  it  with  his  fists,  producing 
sounds  which  not  only  delight  himself,  but  bewilder 
any  mortal  who  may  be  unlucky  enough  to  hear  him. 
Sometimes,  in  return  for  a  kindness,  the  beast  will 
show  himself  grateful  and  render  much  service;  but 
more  often  he  takes  on  human  form,  to  entice  people 
to  their  death.  Mitford  gives,  as  an  example,  the 
story  of  a  young  noble,  who  was  out  walking  at  night 
in  a  lonely  place,  and  found  a  very  beautiful  young 
girl  lying  by  the  roadside  ;  his  squire  was  exceedingly 
smitten  with  her  loveliness ;  but,  after  talking  a  few 
minutes,  the  young  man  drew  his  sword  and  cut  off 
her  head.  The  horrified  attendant  reported  the  deed 
to  his  lord,  the  young  man's  father,  who  declared  he 
must  kill  such  a  son  on  the  spot ;  but  the  youth  quietly 
explained  that  he  had  merely  disposed  of  an  evil 
spirit,  and  requested  them  to  go  look  on  the  bank  by 
the  moat  and  see  what  was  there.  Sure  enough,  on 
the  spot  where  he  cut  down  the  girl,  lay  a  huge  old 
badger,  with  his  head  cut  off.  The  young  man  ex- 
plained that  he  looked  closely  at  the  creature  and  saw 
that,  though  it  was  raining  heavily  and  she  professed 


296  JAPAN. 

to  have  been  lying  on  the  bank  for  hours  in  great  pain, 
her  clothing  was  not  even  moist ;  the  evil  spirit  had 
forgotten  this  little  detail,  which  could  not  escape  a 
Sherlock  Holmes  trained  in  Chinese  philosophy. 

Just  over  the  bridge  a  horse  tramway  passes  along 
the  river,  and  every  hour  or  two  a  line  of  small,  flat 
cars  comes  by,  drawn  by  shaggy  ponies  in  great  straw 
shoes ;  each  horse  has  a  man  at  his  head,  to  lead  him 
by  a  straw  halter,  for  Japanese  horses  are  seldom 
driven.  This  tram  goes  up  over  the  mountains  toward 
Ashio,  where  the  great  copper  mines  are,  the  largest 
in  Japan.  The  way  over  is  across  the  Hoso-o  pass,  two 
thousand  feet  higher  than  Nikko,  and  at  the  highest 
part  the  cars  transfer  their  load  to  a  steel  cable  wound 
on  drums  three  miles  apart,  which  carries  the  charcoal 
and  coke  to  another  tramway  on  the  other  side  of  the 
pass  and  brings  back  bars  of  ore  in  return.  The 
mines  have  been  furnished  with  the  most  modern 
machinery,  and,  as  a  first  result,  the  increased  activity 
sent  out  a  mass  of  poisonous  waste  into  the  stream 
which  drained  the  slope,  and  ruined  the  crops  watered 
by  it  in  the  valley  below.  The  farmers  were  almost 
up  in  arms  over  it,  and  a  great  deal  of  agitation  has 
ended  by  forcing  the  owners  to  put  in  a  filtration 
plant,  which  takes  the  injurious  part  from  the  water 
used  in  working. 

Japanese  law  regards  the  surface  of  the  land  as 
alone  belonging  to  the  proprietor ;  the  right  to  mine 
is  a  government  monopoly,  and  is  let  out  to  those  who 


NIKKO   AND   LAKE   CIIUZEXJI.  297 

work  the  ore  at  a  certain  percentage ;  the  surface  of 
the  land  used  must  also  pay  the  regular  land  tax,  or  a 
set  fraction  thereof.  The  mines  of  Yezo  and  the 
west  coast  of  the  main  island  are  but  little  developed 
as  yet,  compared  to  what  they  might  be  if  there  were 
more  capital  available  in  the  land. 

Nikko  has  long  been  a  favorite  haunt  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  contingent,  being  cooler  and  rather  less  rainy 
than  the  coast ;  and  they  have  found  many  excursions 
in  the  neighborhood,  both  short  and  long.  Distant 
views  are  not  to  be  had  from  Nikko  proper ;  the  val- 
ley is  too  shut  in  for  that ;  but  a  sharp  climb  to  the 
top  of  Toyama  gives  a  wide  outlook  among  the  nearer 
peaks,  Nantaizan  and  Shirane  San  and  the  rest,  and 
to  the  east  the  notched  peak  of  Mount  Tsukuba  rising 
to  the  north  of  the  plain  of  Tokyo.  Most  of  the 
paths  are  too  hilly  for  jinrikishas,  but  the  ride  back 
towards  Utsunomiya,  through  the  old  cryptomeria 
avenue,  is  fairly  level,  and  the  road  is  good,  except 
during  the  summer  rains.  The  trees  stand  so  close 
together  that  their  trunks  almost  touch,  and  the  shade 
is  dense  and  cool  on  the  hottest  days. 

The  rain  dragon  cannot  have  entirely  deserted  his 
caves  on  Nantaizan,  for  the  whole  Xikko  region  gets  a 
full  share  of  both  the  June  and  September  down- 
pours ;  however,  a  dozen  streams  and  waterfalls  are 
all  the  more  beautiful  for  that.  There  are  charming 
excursions  to  the  mist-falling  cascade,  and  the  pitch- 
dark  cascade,  and  the  back-view  cascade,  where  you 


298  JAPAN. 

can  walk  behind  the  sheet,  and  several  lesser  falls,  be- 
sides the  two  on  the  way  to  lake  Chuzenji.  The 
foreign  residents  have  adopted  the  pleasant  Japanese 
custom  of  going  off  on  impromptu  picnics,  and  live 
out  of  doors  almost  as  much  as  the  Germans  do  in 
summer.  At  first  the  reception  apartments  of  temples 
were  let  to  the  strangers  who  wanted  to  stay  at  Nikko, 
as  well  as  the  better  houses  of  the  village,  but  this 
accommodation  has  been  long  outgrown  ;  many  cot- 
tages have  been  built  for  and  by  the  foreigners,  and 
not  only  these,  but  the  hotels,  are  usually  full  from  July 
to  September.  The  American  Church  Mission  has 
lately  built  a  pretty  little  church  for  English  services, 
and  there  is  a  large  colony  of  missionaries  at  Nikko, 
though  Karuizawa  probably  takes  the  greater  number. 
Every  year  more  people  go  all  the  way  to  lake  Chu- 
zenji, notwithstanding  the  difficulty  of  housekeeping  so 
far  from  railroad  and  supplies.  The  lake  is  four  thou- 
sand feet  above  the  sea,  and  in  spite  of  much  rain,  the 
air  is  cool  and  bracing  all  summer.  It  is,  on  the  whole, 
the  most  beautiful  body  of  water  in  all  Japan,  Biwa 
and  Haruna,  and  even  Hakone,  not  excepted  ;  but  the 
Japanese  have  much  fewer  associations  with  it  of  a 
literary  and  artistic  kind ;  so  they  do  not  rave  over  it 
so  much.  Chuzenji  lies  in  a  circle  of  wooded  hills, 
almost  at  the  foot  of  Nantaizan,  and  it  is  just  big 
enough  for  beauty  and  not  too  large  to  enjoy  all  at 
once :  it  is  three  miles  across  and  some  eight  or  nine 
miles  long,  and  at  the  upper  end  exceedingly  deep. 


NIKKO   AND  LAKE  CHUZENJI.  299 

Foreigners  have  taken  very  kindly  to  it,  and  living 
there  becomes  less  impossible  every  year;  indeed  it 
bids  fair  to  become  the  most  aristocratic  of  the  summer 
resorts,  though  all  this  may  change  now  that  the  re- 
vised treaties  allow  everybody  to  rent  cottages  and  live 
where  they  will,  without  taking  out  leases  through  the 
Japanese  go-between. 

The  road  to  Chuzenji  is  not  too  easy  to  travel  at  any 
time,  and  after  the  rains  it  is  often  too  much  washed 
to  be  possible  for  jinrikishas,  especially  in  the  part 
along  the  gorge  of  the  Daiyagawa.  The  distance  is 
eight  miles,  and  the  rise  two  thousand  feet,  the  steepest 
part  being  near  the  top.  When  the  jinrikishas  cannot 
run,  the  alternative  modes  of  conveyance  are  horseback, 
kao-o  and  chair,  of  which  the  last  is  least  trying  to 
American  feelings,  for  the  kago  or  litter  is  only  fit  for 
people  who  can  fold  themselves  up  conveniently,  like 
a  jack-knife,  and  the  horses  are  raw-boned,  half  broken 
beasts  of  execrable  gait,  and  temper  none  too  good. 
As  for  the  so-called  English  saddles  which  are  to  be 
hired,  they  are  desirable  only  by  comparison  with  the 
native  mountain  pack-saddle,  on  which  the  rider  sits 
doubled  up,  or  with  his  legs  sticking  out  on  either  side 
over  the  horse's  neck.  But  the  road  is  exceedingly 
pretty,  taking  in  a  picturesque  village  and  specimens 
of  mountain  farming,  and  beautiful  views  along  the 
river  and  up  the  steep  hillsides.  Part  of  the  way  the 
path  clings  to  the  side  of  the  cliff,  and  here  it  is  that 
the  rains  give  so  much  trouble. 


300  JAPAN. 

Nantaizan  is  so  sacred  that  the  old  rule  still  obtains, 
and  no  woman  is  permitted  to  pass  through  the  gates 
and  make  the  ascent.  Only  very  good  walkers  are 
likely  to  be  much  grieved,  for  it  is  said  to  be  a  hard 
climb,  much  of  it  over  slippery  log  steps,  though  the 
view  at  the  top  must  repay  a  good  deal  of  effort. 
Another  aud  still  stiffer  climb  is  up  Shirane  San, 
which  is  six  hundred  feet  higher  than  Nantaizan — 
eight  thousand  eight  hundred  feet  in  all,  according  to 
Chamberlain.  Shirane  San  is  an  active  volcano,  but 
has  not  been  in  eruption  since  1889. 

A  wide  moor  lies  between  the  mountains,  covered  in 
summer  with  iris  and  lilies,  and  in  the  autumn  beauti- 
ful with  a  kind  of  tall  reddish  grass.  On  the  Shirane 
side  lies  a  second  lake,  Yumoto,  one  of  the  innumer- 
able sources  of  hot  water.  Yumoto  village  lies  on  the 
moor  side,  beside  the  cluster  of  springs,  which  are  so 
strongly  charged  that  they  make  the  lake  water  quite 
sulphurous.  The  bathing  arrangements  are  much 
more  primitive  than  at  Ikao — in  fact,  they  are  very 
primitive  indeed,  because,  as  a  rule,  only  pilgrims 
go  there  to  bathe  as  a  part  of  their  round  of  exer- 
cises. 

Those  who  come  on  pilgrimage  to  Nikko  visit  first 
the  tombs  of  the  Shoguns,  and  then  make  their  way 
up  to  Chuzenji,  where  the  temple  of  the  Thousand- 
handed  Kwannon,  founded  by  Shodo  Shonin,  is  still 
an  important  shrine ;  from  there  they  ascend  Nan- 
taizan,  and  enjoy  a  soak  at  Yumoto  before  returning 


NIKKO  AND  LAKE  CHUZENJI.  301 

again  to  Chuzenji.  For  the  few  days  in  July  and 
August  when  the  mountain  is  officially  "  open  " — and 
then  only  is  any  one  allowed  to  ascend — the  village  is 
packed  to  overflowing ;  as  many  as  ten  thousand  pil- 
grims sometimes  stay  there  for  the  night.  The  time 
of  opening  varies,  following  the  old  lunar  calendar. 
Some  stout-hearted  pilgrims  take  in  four  other  moun- 
tains in  the  round,  giving  several  days  to  the  whole 
expedition  and  sleeping  at  Nikko  or  Chuzenji.  Jn 
maple  time  they  come  down  bearing  crimson  branches 
from  the  sides  of  Shirane  San,  where  the  finest  grow. 
All  about  Chuzenji  the  forests  are  full  of  oak  and 
birch  and  other  familiar  deciduous  trees,  besides  Wis- 
taria vines  and  a  glorious  display  of  wild  azalea  in 
the  early  summer,  the  pink  and  white  and  red  azaleas 
of  our  greenhouses,  reaching  here  a  height  of  ten  or 
fifteen  feet  among  the  undergrowth  on  the  edge  of  the 
woods.  In  many  places  the  trees  are  draped  with  a 
long  trailing  moss  called  monkey  grass,  and  the  mon- 
keys are  there,  too,  swinging  and  chattering,  and  not 
at  all  afraid  of  the  few  human  beings  who  come  their 
way.  Master  Jingoro  could  have  had  little  difficulty 
in  finding  models  for  his  carvings.  He  is  a  rather 
large  beast,  the  Japanese  ape  or  saru,  short-haired  and 
pink-faced,  and  plausible  looking;  he  does  not 
hang  by  his  tail,  because  nature  has  deprived  him  of 
that  convenience.  In  folk  tales  he  is  mischievous  and 
ill-mannered,  like  all  his  race,  but  at  the  same  time 
rather   easily  gulled — especially  those  of  their  tribe 


302  JAPAN. 

who,  according  to  the  old  belief,  inhabit  the  bottom  of 
the  sea.  Here  is  one  of  the  stories  the  grandmother 
tells  the  young  ones  around  the  warm  kotatsu  of  a 
winter  evening : 

Once  on  a  time  there  were  a  great  many  monkeys 
who  lived  in  the  sea,  but  now  there  are  only  a  few, 
because  they  were  foolish  and  would  not  stay  there. 
In  those  days  people  used  to  brew  sake  on  the  sea- 
shore, and  the  monkeys  came  up  and  watched  them, 
but  at  first  they  did  not  come  near,  for  they  said,  "If 
we  look  we  shall  smell,  and  if  we  smell  we  shall 
taste,  and  if  we  taste  we  shall  drink,  and  if  we 
drink  we  shall  dance,  and  if  we  dance  Ave  shall 
fall  down,  and  the  men  will  kill  us."  So  they 
were  very  careful  for  a  long  time.  But  at  last  they 
said,  "  We  might  just  look  a  little,  but  we  must  not 
smell,  for  if  we  smell  we  shall  taste  " — and  so  on  and 
so  on.  And,  when  they  smelled,  they  thought  it 
would  not  do  any  harm  just  to  taste  a  little;  "but  we 
must  not  drink,  for  if  we  drink  we  shall  dance,  and 
if  we  dance  we  shall  fall  down,  and  the  men  will  kill 
us."  So  they  tasted  a  little,  and  the  sake  was  so  good 
that  they  thought  they  would  really  have  to  drink 
some,  but  they  would  be  very,  very  careful  not  to 
dance.  So  they  drank  and  drank,  and  presently  they 
began  to  dance  and  dance,  and  they  all  danced 
till  they  fell  down,  and  the  men  killed  them  every 
one  ! 

I  suppose  in  Japan, 


NIKKO  AND  LAKE  CHUZENJI.  303 

"  This  is  the  sorrowful  story, 
Told  when  the  twilight  fails, 
And  the  monkeys  walk  together, 
Holding  each  other's  tails." 


Only,  as  I  said  before,  the  Japanese  monkeys,  poor 
things,  have  no  tails  to  hold  by. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

SEND  A I    AND    MATSUSHIMA. 

"My  master  bids  me  govern  the  far  lands  of  his  kingdom,  the 
deserts  of.Koshi,  the  hills  white  with  the  wintry  snow. 

"  I  have  no  consolation  save  the  flowers,  the  lilies  and  the  tender 
carnations,  springing  beside  my  door. 

"  I  watch  the  flowers  blooming,  and  I  think  of  my  bride;  white 
as  the  lilies,  tender  as  the  carnations  is  she. 

"  But  for  thinking  of  her,  my  beloved,  ray  bride, 

"  In  this  wilderness,  even  for  a  day,  how  should  I  endure!  " 

— Japanese  poem,  ninth  century. 

The  settlements  in  the  Kwanto  in  the  early  middle 
ages  have  been  sometimes  compared  to  the  Roman 
colonies  on  the  Rhine  and  the  Danube  ;  the  wild  Ainu 
were  all  about  the  northern  border,  ever  ready  to  press 
back  on  the  softer  region  from  which  they  were  being 
thrust  inch  by  inch.  Those  who  kept  the  barriers  on 
these  northern  marches  had  need  to  be  strong  men, 
who,  while  they  drained  and  cleared  the  new  land, 
were  always  ready  to  fight  in  its  defence.  Some  of  the 
outposts  on  the  Oshiu  Kaido — the  old  highway — have 
kept  the  name  still,  as  the  memory  of  Roman  camps 
lingers  at  Worcester  and  Lancaster ;  there  is  Ichi- 
no-he,  first  gate,  and  San-no-he,  Hachi-no-he,  third  and 

304 


SENDAI  AND  MATSUSHIMA.  305 

eighth  gate,  and  so  on.  It  was  not  until  Yoshiiye's 
conquests,  in  the  twelfth  century,  that  the  barbarians 
were  driven  finally  beyond  what  is  now  Morioka,  quite 
to  the  northern  shores  of  the  main  island. 

In  the  seventh  century,  the  border  lay  about  half 
way  up  from  the  Hakone  mountains  to  the  top  of  the 
island,  just  beyond  what  is  now  the  bay  of  Sendai— a 
great  curve  sweeping  round  for  twenty-five  miles, 
sheltered  on  the  north  by  a  high  promontory  and  the 
mountain  island  of  Kinkwazan,  which  forms  the  outer 
end  of  the  arc,  but  open  to  the  beat  of  the  sea  on  the 
south  and  southeast.  Islands  innumerable  are  scat- 
tered over  the  bay,  and  among  them  here  and  there  are 
sheltered  little  harbors  for  small  boats,  and  one  fairly 
good  port,  Oginohama,  lying  close  under  the  outer 
arm.  Around  the  bay  lie  many  little  towns,  which 
carry  their  traditions  back  to  the  early  centuries,  but 
all  are  overshadowed  by  their  younger  neighbor, 
Sendai. 

Like  Yedo,  Sendai  owes  its  importance  to  a  single 
family,  almost  to  a  single  man,  namely,  Ieyasu's  con- 
temporary, Date  Masamune.  The  Date  family  was 
ennobled  in  the  twelfth  century,  but  we  hear  little 
about  them  till  the  year  1500;  then,  in  the  general 
turmoil  of  that  stirring  period,  the  Date,  like  so  many 
others,  laid  about  them  and  took  by  fighting  whatever 
their  neighbors  were  not  strong  enough  to  hold.  At 
the  height  of  Hideyoshi's  power,  Date  Masamune  and 
the  Hqjo— who  for  generations  had  been  Regents  over 
Vol.  L— 20 


306  JAPAN. 

the  feeble  Ashikaga  Shogims — were  the  only  lords 
who  did  not  acknowledge  the  Taiko's  supremacy. 
Then  Hideyoshi  gathered  his  generals — Ieyasu  was 
among  them — and  attacked  the  Hojo  stronghold  at 
Odawara,  on  the  Tokaido  ;  and  after  a  time  Date  came 
to  him  there  and  made  submission.  It  is  said  that 
Hideyoshi  rebuked  Date  severely  for  not  coming 
sooner,  and,  taking  him  to  a  high  place,  showed  him  all 
the  great  army  encamped  around  Odawara ;  and  Date 
owned  himself  convinced.  To  Ieyasu,  and  his  house, 
he  became  one  of  the  most  trusted  and  faithful  vassals, 
and  after  Ieyasu's  death  his  influence  probably  counted 
for  much  in  keeping  the  other  nobles  loyal  to  Ieyasu's 
son  and  grandson. 

Sendai  castle  stands  on  a  sharp  hill,  in  a  fine  natural 
situation,  and  Masamune  made  it  as  strong  as  unspar- 
ing effort  could ;  part  still  stands,  part  was  destroyed 
in  the  war  of  the  Restoration  (1868),  when  the  city 
held  out  for  the  Tokugawa,  its  ancient  overlords. 
What  remains  of  the  castle  is  used  for  quarters  for  the 
officers,  Sendai  being  now  one  the  most  important  gar- 
rison stations,  and  having  extensive  barracks.  There 
is  also  a  large  convict  prison  in  the  city. 

Under  the  new  division  of  the  country  into  ken  (pre- 
fectures) Sendai  became  the  capital  of  Miyagi  ken; 
and  it  is  now  a  very  modern,  progressive  place,  proud 
of  its  fine  hospital  and  schools,  and  a  college  which 
hopes  soon  to  become  a  university.  It  further  pos- 
sesses a  so-called  "  foreign  hotel,"  but  unless  this  has 


SENDAI   AND  MATSUSHIMA.  307 

recently  mended  its  ways,  it  has  all  the  shortcomings 
of  such  hybrids  in  Japan,  which  are  dusty,  cheerless 
rooms  and  poor  food,  and  a  clumsy,  half-comprehend- 
ing service.  Unless  beefsteak  and  bedsteads  are  abso- 
lutely essential  to  one's  happiness,  a  good  all-Japanese 
yadoya  is  far  preferable  to  such  as  these. 

The  city  lies  in  a  fine  open  country,  slightly  rolling 
to  the  west  and  south,  and  spreading  away  in  a  smooth 
level  stretch  of  rice  fields  to  the  bay,  some  five  miles 
off.  The  little  river  Hirose  flows  around  it,  coming 
across  from  the  mountains  on  the  west,  which  send  out 
long  spurs  toward  the  Sendai  hills.  On  the  north,  a 
long  narrow  plain  reaches  up  toward  Nambu  province, 
well  watered  by  the  Kitamigawa  and  its  numerous 
branches,  which  flow  together  into  the  bay  farther 
round.  The  plain  is  rich  and  well  cultivated,  and 
bears  a  large  rice  crop ;  according  to  Appert's  chart 
of  the  Daimyo,  the  income  of  the  Date  of  Sendai  was 
over  six  hundred  thousand  koku  annually. 

The  meibutsu  or  specialty  of  the  region  is  a  kind  of 
fossil  wood  known  as  Sendai  wood,  very  heavy  and 
black,  and  a  good  deal  like  Irish  bog  oak,  which  comes 
from  a  hill  not  far  from  the  city ;  they  make  carved 
trays  and  other  fancy  things  of  it  to  sell  as  mementoes, 
and  a  great  deal  of  it  is  sold  at  Nikko.  For,  wherever 
you  go  in  Japan  it  is  proper  to  bring  away  little  spec- 
imens of  the  local  handicraft  as  gifts  for  friends  at 
home  ;  and  something  characteristic  is  always  forthcom- 
ing, because  in  the  days  of  sharply  drawn  feudal  lines 


308  JAPAN. 

every  province,  every  village  almost,  had  its  individual 
life  and  individual  industries.  Thus,  north,  away 
here  around  the  old  castle-town  of  Morioka,  they  make 
beautiful  iron  kettles;  Nagoya  produces  blue  porce- 
lain and  "eggshell"  lacquer;  down  in  Kochi  they 
raise  chickens  with  tail-feathers  yards  long,  and  so  on 
and  so  on,  from  Lu  Chu  to  the  Ainu  country. 
Sendai  wood,  therefore,  for  Sendai,  and  extra-fine  per- 
simmons— not  our  little  puckery  American  ones  that 
must  wait  for  frost,  but  sweet  and  large  and  yellow  as 
oranges.  In  October  the  persimmon  orchards  flash 
gold  like  a  pre-Raphaelite  paradise,  and  later  endless 
boxfuls,  dried  in  sake,  will  go  to  Tokyo  for  gifts  at  the 
New  Year.  These  Japanese  persimmons  are  grown  a 
great  deal  in  California  nowr,  and  all  through  the 
autumn  they  make  a  fine  show  in  our  large  fruit  shops. 
I  don't  think  I  ever  saw  any  one  buy  any ! 

Sendai,  under  the  rule  of  the  Date,  counted  as  the 
best  governed  of  all  the  provinces.  Masamune  built 
not  only  fortifications,  but  loads  and  bridges,  and  dug 
canals  and  planted  forests,  and  conducted  himself  in 
an  able  and  enterprising  manner  generally.  But  per- 
haps the  most  .enterprising,  and  certainly  the  most 
original  thing  that  he  did,  was  to  send  an  embassy  to 
Europe  to  visit  the  Pope.  Nearly  thirty  years  before, 
in  1583,  the  princes  of  Bungo  and  Arima,  in  Kiu- 
shiu,  had  sent  four  young  nobles  as  ambassadors  to 
the  courts  of  Europe,  bearing  a  letter  which  declared 
they  came  "  from  the  kings  and  Christians  of  Japan," 


SENDAI  AND  MATSUSHIMA.  309 

and  desired  to  render  homage  to  His  Holiness  ;  also 
to  see  "  the  marvelous  aud  invincible  city  of  Venice, 
which  had  surpassed  their  imaginations."  The  mes- 
sengers also  visited  Spain,  and  asked  for  an  alliance 
with  Philip  II.  They  were  absent  seven  years,  and 
brought  with  them  an  Italian  prelate,  who  was  well 
received  by  Hideyoshi,  then  in  the  height  of  his 
power,  and  not  yet  hostile  to  the  Christians. 

Masamune's  embassy  left  in  1614.  Just  why  he 
sent  it  is  a  little  puzzling.  The  Pope  naturally  under- 
stood it  to  be  an  act  of  submission  and  allegiance,  and 
sent  gifts  and  messages  accordingly  ;  but  this  view  of 
the  matter  is  difficult  to  reconcile  with  the  rest  of 
Date's  character  and  actions.  Certainly,  if  he  ever  had 
any  genuine  interest  in  Christianity  for  its  own  sake, 
by  the  time  the  ambassadors  returned  his  ideas  had 
completely  changed ;  the  edicts  forbidding  "  the  evil 
sect "  were  then  being  rigorously  enforced,  and  Date 
was  among  the  most  zealous  persecutors  It  is  far 
easier  to  believe  that  this  wide-awake  prince  was 
moved,  not  by  any  devotion  to  religion,  but  by  desire 
for  material  advantage — possibly  even  by  ambition  for 
foreign  conquest,  like  Hideyoshi's  in  Korea,  for  he 
can  have  had  no  definite  conception  of  the  distance 
from  Japan  to  Europe.  Indeed,  if  the  Europeans 
could  come,  why  might  not  the  Japanese  go  thither  to 
conquer?  The  "Anglo-Saxons  of  the  East/'  like 
ourselves,  have  always  a  healthy  confidence  in  their 
own  ability  to  do  whatever  anybody  else  can.     It  is 


310  JAPAN. 

more  than  probable  that  Masamune  sent  his  messen- 
gers to  spy  out  the  land  and  report  concerning  its 
strength,  having  also  in  mind  those  advantages  of 
foreign  trade  and  improved  weapons  which  had  fallen 
to  the  Daimyo  of  the  south.  However,  when  the 
embassy  returned.  Date  was  busy  restoring  Buddhist 
temples  and  improving  his  province,  and,  when  he 
heard  their  report,  must  have  given  up  his  schemes 
for  profit  from  the  outside  world.  Many  of  the  gifts 
sent  by  the  Pope  are  now  preserved,  with  other  Chris- 
tian relics,  in  the  museum  at  Uyeno,  and  the  rest  have 
been  scattered  in  recent  years. 

There  are  two  rather  handsome  temples  in  Sendai, 
one  of  them  standing  in  a  picturesque  situation  among 
fine  old  cryptomeria  trees ;  the  carved  monsters  on  the 
ends  of  the  rafters  are  of  the  best  period  of  art.  On 
either  side  of  the  building  are  stone  monuments, 
placed  in  memory  of  twenty  of  Date  Masamune's 
closest  retainers,  who  committed  hara-kiri  after  his 
death,  in  order  that  their  spirits  might  follow  and  con- 
tinue to  serve  their  master.  Such  faithfulness  is  not 
without  parallel  in  Japanese  history.  I  think  it  is  in 
the  dramatized  version  of  the  story  of  the  "  Forty- 
seven  Rouin"  that  one  of  his  attendants  tells  Lord 
Asano,  as  he  makes  his  farewell  to  his  household, 
before  going  to  his  unjust  death,  that  he  will  soon 
hear  the  clatter  of  his  old  nurse's  geta  coming  behind 
him — Icaran,  haron,  Jcaran,  Jcaron — along  the  Shadowy 
Way.      Near  the  retainers'   another   monument   has 


SENDAI   AND  MATSUSIIIMA.  31 J 

been  erected,  in  memory  of  a  thousand  men  who  were 
killed  in  the  war  of  the  Restoration.  The  other  tem- 
ple, called  Zuiho-den,  from  the  name  of  the  hill  on 
which  it  stands,  is  in  what  was  a  part  of  the  old 
castle  grounds  ;  and  here  Masamune  was  buried,  and 
there  is  a  fine  statue  of  him  placed  upon  his  tomb. 
Outside  the  Zuiho-den,  near  the  first  torii  leading  to  the 
avenue  of  cedars  by  which  you  approach  it,  a  great 
irregular  stone  tablet  commemorates  the  hundred  and  odd 
Sendai  men  who  lost  their  lives  in  the  Satsuma  rebellion. 
As  a  boy  Date  Masamune  is  said  to  have  been  of 
a  timid  and  retiring  disposition  ;  but  he  must  have 
either  outgrown  or  overcome  what  in  those  days  would 
have  been  an  unpardonable  defect.  His  life  was  spent 
in  the  saddle,  and  to  the  end  he  held  himself  ready 
for  war  at  any  moment,  though  the  Tokugawa  rule 
had  already  begun  the  two  hundred  years  of  the 
Great  Peace.  Masamune's  father,  Date  Terumune, 
was  a  born  fighter,  always  at  war  with  his  neighbors, 
always  victorious,  and  always  surrounded  by  traitors. 
Mazeliere  relates  that  at  one  time  Terumune's  Karo 
(chief  retainer;  discovered  a  plot  against  his  lord ;  he 
therefore  had  his  own  son  married  to  the  conspirator's 
daughter,  in  order  to  keep  a  watch  upon  their  move- 
ments. But  the  young  man  yielded  to  the  charms  of 
his  bride  and  was  persuaded  to  join  in  the  plot ;  then, 
repenting,  he  broke  away  and  went  to  his  father,  told 
all,  and  took  his  own  life — in  old  Japan  the  only 
honorable  exit  from  such  a  situation. 


312  JAPAN. 

But  at  last  Terumune  was  trapped  and  caught. 
Masamune  marched  against  the  castle  where  his  father 
was  confined ;  the  enemy  sent  out  word  that,  at  the 
first  arrow  shot,  Date  Terumune  should  be  put  to 
death.  With  that  the  fierce  old  lord  cried  out  from  a 
tower  to  his  son,  "  Never  trouble  for  my  life ;  I  want 
only  vengeance."  Masamune  took  the  castle,  found 
his  father's  corpse,  and  piled  him  a  funeral  mound  of 
the  heads  of  the  slain. 

Naturally,  the  later  members  of  the  house  were  of 
less  remarkable  mould  than  these  two  ;  but  the  family 
remained  among  the  most  powerful  barons,  being 
always  closely  attached  to  the  Shogun,  and  faithful  to 
him  to  the  very  end  of  the  old  order  of  things.  One 
of  the  most  popular  historical  dramas  deals  with  the 
fortunes  of  the  house — the  play  of  the  "  Prince  of 
Sendai " — the  real  events  of  which  happened  in  the 
province  about  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century. 
Briefly,  this  is  the  outline :  Hyobu,  a  wicked  kins- 
man of  the  Prince,  formed  a  plot  to  get  the  Daimiate 
for  himself;  to  this  end  he  tempted  Date  to  a  life  of 
dissipation,  in  order  that  he  might  be  disgraced  and 
deposed.  The  plot  succeeded,  in  so  far  that  Date's 
doings  came  to  the  Shogun's  ears,  and  he  was  ordered 
to  retire;  but,  instead  of  Hyobu,  the  Prince's  little 
son  was  appointed  Daimyo  in  his  place.  Then  Hyobu 
tried  to  murder  the  boy,  and,  to  protect  him,  the 
Prince's  Karo  sent  his  own  daughter,  with  her  son,  as 
nurse  or  governess  to  the  child. 


SENDAI  AND  MATSUSHIMA.  313 

The  culminating  scene  of  the  drama  is  laid  in  a 
room  of  the  castle,  where  the  three  are  virtually  pris- 
oners ;  the  children  watch  hungrily,  while  the  nurse, 
who  dares  not  trust  any  one  about  her,  prepares  with 
her  own  hands  their  belated  meal.  Presently,  to 
amuse  them,  Masaoka — that  is  the  nurse's  stage  name 
— sends  them  to  Ihe  balcony  to  see  the  sparrows,  and, 
while  they  watch  the  mother  bird  feeding  her  gaping 
young,  the  half-starved  princeling  gravely  reminds  his 
comrade  that  it  is  all  very  well  for  the  birds,  who 
know  no  better,  to  push  and  twitter  for  their  food, 
"  but  for  a  Samurai,  when  his  stomach  is  empty,  it  is 
a  disgrace  to  feel  hunger." 

At  this  moment  a  lady  in  waiting  enters,  bearing  a 
box  of  cakes,  which  she  says  are  for  the  little  Prince, 
from  his  father.  Masaoka,  suspecting  mischief,  de- 
clares that  the  child  is  ill  and  cannot  eat  them  to-day, 
but  she  will  put  them  by  for  him ;  the  messenger, 
on  the  contrary,  insists  that  she  must  see  him  taste 
his  father's  present.  While  they  are  disputing,  Masa- 
oka's  son  suddenly  snatches  one  of  the  cakes  and 
crams  it  into  his  mouth,  the  mother  making  no  move- 
ment to  check  him  ;  indeed,  he  is  but  carrying  out 
wThat  she  has  carefully  taught  him  to  do  for  the  pro- 
tection of  his  young  lord.  But  the  frightened  mes- 
senger, well  knowing  that  the  child  will  presently  die 
of  poison  and  so  betray  their  plot,  draws  out  her  dag- 
ger and  stabs  him,  exclaiming  that  he  has  dishonored 
his  lord.     I  venture  to  think  a  European  mother  of 


;U4  japan. 

the  same  period  would  have  drawn  in  turn ;  not  so 
the  Samurai.  Feigning  to  suspect  nothing,  she  de- 
clares that  the  doom  is  just;  that  for  such  an  evil 
deed  her  son  deserves  to  die.  With  all  ceremony,  she 
dismisses  the  messenger  over  her  trampled  cakes,  and 
only  when  alone  with  the  body  of  the  son  whose  life 
she  has  freely  given  for  his  Prince,  the  mother-heart 
at  last  has  its  way. 

In  all  essentials,  the  tale  is  quite  in  accord  with  the 
facts,  and  it  is  a  comfort  to  know  that  in  the  end  the 
wicked  kinsman  was  detected  and  brought  to  justice, 
and  the  little  Prince  was  saved,  though  the  faithful 
Karo,  Masaoka's  father,  lost  his  life  in  the  struggle. 

A  few  miles  south  of  Sendai,  at  the  junction  for  the 
East  Coast  Railway,  there  is  a  curious  old  temple  of 
Inari,  the  Shinto  god  of  rice,  whose  servants  are  the 
foxes.  According  to  its  legend,  the  temple  was 
founded  by  a  certain  nobleman  named  Ono  Takamura, 
who  came  up  from  Kyoto  about  the  year  900  to  in- 
spect the  northern  provinces.  Being  a  pious  person, 
he  carried  with  him  a  pair  of  foxes  from  his  home 
temple  at  Fushimi,  near  Kyoto.  Temple  foxes,  by  the 
way,  are  not  wicked  enchanters  like  the  mountain  fox, 
but  bring  good  luck  with  them  wherever  they  go. 
They  have  power  over  the  hill  foxes,  and  that  is  why 
a  person  suffering  from  fox  possession  is  brought  to 
the  Inari  temple,  so  that  the  white  fox  may  cast  out 
the  evil  one.  After  journeying  long  and  far,  Ono 
Takamura  came  one  day  to  a  bridge  over  a  little  river, 


SENDAI   AND  MATSUSHIMA.  315 

just  before  you  reach,  what  is  now  Iwanuma  junction, 
and  there  he  sat  down  to  lunch  and  rest.  While  he 
sat  there  he  opened  the  lid  of  the  box  where  the  foxes 
lived,  because  they  were  tame  and  gentle,  but  to  his 
astonishment  they  both  jumped  out  and  ran  away. 
One  went  this  way  and  one  went  that,  and  as  they  ran 
they  cried  eight  times  :  "  One  in  the  north  and  one  in 
the  south  ;  one  in  the  north  and  one  in  the  south." 
This,  it  may  be  supposed,  surprised  their  master  still 
more,  and  he  was  much  perplexed  to  understand  the 
sign.  At  last  he  saw  the  foxes  run  into  a  little  wood, 
so  he  decided  that  they  wished  to  dwell  there,  and 
establish  the  worship  of  the  god  in  these  northern 
countries  as  well  as  in  the  south,  and  he  obediently 
built  them  a  small  temple  in  the  Avood,  so  small,  in- 
deed, that  very  few  people  knew  anything  about  it. 

Then  we  skip  five  hundred  years — into  the  time 
when  this  part  of  the  country  was  beginning  to  grow 
powerful  and  important.  A  certain  poet-priest  of 
Kyoto  learned  of  this  wonderful  manifestation,  and 
set  out  on  a  pilgrimage  to  Ono  Takamura's  temple ; 
but  when  he  reached  the  place  he  could  find  no  one 
who  had  ever  heard  of  such  a  thing.  At  last  he 
stopped  a  boy  riding  on  a  bamboo  stick  for  a  horse, 
and  asked  him  the  way ;  the  child  pointed  to  the 
forest  and  vanished.  The  priest  went  where  he 
pointed,  and  found  the  little  temple  still  standing;  so 
he  was  sure  the  boy  who  directed  him  was  the  god  in 
disguise.     Later  the  temple  was  taken  over  by  the 


316  JAPAN. 

Buddhists,  but  Inari  Sarua  still  had  his  worship,  even 
after  a  large  Buddhist  monastery  was  built  there  and 
named  Takekoma-ji,  Hobby-horse  Abbey,  in  memory 
of  the  priest  and  the  disguised  god ;  and  in  the  end 
the  Shinto  priests  regained  possession. 

The  temple  stands  in  a  wood  surrounded  by  a  high 
board  fence,  put  up  to  keep  out  dogs  and  other  ani- 
mals ;  the  foxes'  caves  are  behind  the  temple  build- 
ings, and  not  even  the  priests  may  see  inside  the  walls 
built  around  them.  But  sometimes  the  people  of  the 
neighborhood  see  the  foxes  at  play  in  the  fields  at 
night.  The  young  ones  are  rather  light  red  ;  the  grown 
ones  have  white  tips  to  their  tails,  and  the  old  grand- 
father foxes  are  quite  white  all  over. 

I  quote  from  one  of  the  Sendai  missionaries,  Mrs. 
Hoy,  an  account  of  the  daily  offerings  : 

"  It  is  the  custom  of  the  priests  to  offer  boiled  rice, 
eggs,  bean-curd  fried  in  oil,  and  fish  to  the  foxes  once 
a  day.  A  large  table  is  placed  in  the  temple  yard,  on 
which  the  offerings  are  arranged.  The  feast  is  spread 
before  sunset,  and  then,  just  as  the  sun  begins  to  set, 
the  priests  inform  the  foxes  that  their  banquet  is 
ready.  This  they  do  by  beating  drums  very  loudly 
and  striking  the  hyoshige  (two  blocks  of  wood  which 
are  smitten  together,  making  a  very  sharp  sound). 
Then  the  foxes,  one  by  one,  come  slowly  out  of  their 
caves  and  carry  the  food  away  in  their  mouths.  Any 
one  who  offers  food  may  stay  and  see  the  foxes  if 
he  wishes."     Mrs.   Hoy  says  that  a   friend  of  hers 


SENDAI   AND  MATSUSHIMA.  317 

who  staved  put  a  lighted  candle  on  the  table  to  see 
better,  because  the  night  was  cloudy  and  dark,  but  an 
old  fox  snapped  it  up  and  ran  off  with  it  to  his  den. 

They  say  that  one  of  the  Sendai  princes  once  went 
hunting  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  temple  and  shot  a 
wild  goose,  which  fell  on  the  ground,  and  a  fox  ran  out 
and  carried  it  off  before  his  eyes.  The  prince  sent  to 
the  Inari  temple  and  reported  the  matter,  requesting 
that  the  rude  fox  should  be  punished.  What  the 
priests  did  about  it  is  not  related,  but  the  next  morn- 
ing a  fox  with  a  goose  in  his  mouth  was  hanging  on 
the  temple  gate. 

At  the  time  of  the  great  yearly  festival,  which  falls 
in  the  second  month,  the  temple  foxes  invite  their 
friends  to  attend ;  and  they  say  that  if  you  are  bold 
enough  to  go  out  in  the  fields  the  night  before  you  will 
see  a  great  many  lanterns  moving  along  the  little 
paths,  all  going  toward  the  temple.  The  foxes  who 
have  to  cross  the  river  go  to  a  certain  ferry  and  change 
themselves  into  gentlemen  wearing  very  fine  clothes, 
and  the  ferryman  on  that  night  does  not  charge  any 
fee,  for  he  knows  that  he  is  carrying  Inari  Sama's 
servants. 

According  to  Japanese  poets  and  enthusiasts,  there 
are  three  "chief  places"  counted  the  most  beautiful 
of  all  in  Japan.  They  are  Nikko,  Matsushima  and 
Miyajima.  Of  the  three,  Nikko,  of  course,  can  be 
reached  with  no  difficulty  at  all ;  Matsushima,  or  the 
"Pine   Islands,"   fairly  easily  from   Sendai,   which  is 


318  JAPAN. 

twelve  hours  from  Tokyo  and  seven  from  Nikko  on 
the  main  line  north;  and  Miyajima,  "Island  of  the 
Shrine/'  by  rail  and  small  steamboat  from  Kobe, 
quite  away  from  the  full-fledged  European  hotels.  So 
far  foreign  tourists  do  not  often  visit  either  of  the  last 
two  places,  partly,  of  course,  because  they  are  off  the 
track,  and,  besides,  the  stranger  cannot  be  expected  to 
thrill  as  the  native-born  does  over  the  literary  and 
historical  associations  of  either  place.  Of  them  all, 
Matsushima  has  least  to  offer  instead  in  the  way  of  art 
interest,  but  as  pure  landscape  it  is  most  unusual,  most 
picturesque,  and,  perhaps,  too,  most  characteristic  of 
Japan — certainly  well  worth  a  visit  from  any  one  who 
cares  for  natural  scenery. 

Taken  in  connection  with  a  trip  to  the  Hokkaido, 
Matsushima  comes  in  naturally  enough,  and  makes  a 
pleasant  break  in  the  long  journey — twenty-six  hours 
by  rail — from  Tokyo  to  Aomori,  at  the  upper  end  of 
the  main  island.  Coming  this  way  the  stopping  place 
is  Sendai,  and  the  islands  make  a  full  day's  excursion 
from  there.  Another  way  is  to  come  up  by  sea  from 
Yokohama  on  one  of  the  large  coasting  steamers  of 
the  Nippon  Yusen  Kaisha  line,  which  call  at  Ogino- 
hama  on  Sendai  bay — the  only  place  worthy  of  the 
name  of  harbor  between  Yokohama  and  Hakodate  or 
Aomori.  The  run  is  about  twenty-four  hours  from 
Yokohama;  the  steamers  differ  a  great  deal  in  size, 
and  the  smaller  ones  do  not  serve  European  food  ;  but 
they  are  all  clean  and  the  service  is  uniformly  good. 


SENDAI   AND  MATSUSIUMA.  319 

Oginohama  is  a  pretty  little  place,  lying  in  the  hollow 
of  a  great  hill,  and  the  Japanese  inns  are  fair.  From 
there  a  little  local  steamer  connects  with  the  Nippon 
Yusen  Kaisha,  passing  among  the  islands  and  landing 
you  at  Shiogama,  the  end  of  the  branch  railroad  from 
Sendai.  This  branch  line  appears  to  exist  chiefly  to 
transport  enthusiasts  to  and  from  Matsushima,  though 
probably  it  gets  some  freight  from  the  south  by  way  of 
Oginohama ;  but  the  numerous  handlings  must  make 
the  advantage  of  this  over  the  railroad  exceedingly 
small.  Passengers  certainly  depend  as  a  general  thiug 
on  the  through  trains  to  and  from  Tokyo,  in  spite  of 
the  unpleasant  midnight  hours  at  which  they  arrive 
and  depart.  Just  wThy  a  city  of  Sendai's  importance 
should  be  afflicted  with  such  a  time-table  the  benevo- 
lent paternal  government  probably  knows,  but  it  does 
not  tell. 

To  reach  Matsushima  from  Sendai  you  go  by  the 
branch  road  to  Shiogama  in  about  half  an  hour,  and 
there  hire  a  boat  to  sail  or  row  across  among  the 
islands.  Some  vary  the  trip  by  taking  a  kuruma  at 
Matsushima  and  riding  back  by  the  shore  road.  Shio- 
gama itself  is  rather  interesting ;  it  was  one  of  the 
oldest  settlements  on  the  bay — indeed,  it  claims  to  go 
back  to  the  very  Age  of  the  Gods,  and  to  be  the  place 
where  the  son  of  Isanagi,  the  creator  of  Japan,  in- 
vented the  art  of  making  salt  by  boiling  sea-water, 
and  it  is  from  this  circumstance,  they  say,  that 
the  town  gets  its  name,  Shiogama,  which  means  salt 


320  JAPAN. 

pans.  If  any  should  doubt  this  piece  of  history,  they 
will  show  you  the  very  pans  the  god  used  for  his 
boiling — four  of  them — standing  on  a  stone  pedestal. 
They  are  made  of  iron,  very  shallow,  and  measure 
about  a  yard  across ;  the  sides  are  exceedingly  thick. 
They  are  very  much  eaten  with  rust,  and,  whether  we 
accept  the  inventive  deity  for  a  solar  myth  or  a  real 
culture  hero,  anybody  can  see  that  they  are  immensely 
old. 

Tradition  further  relates  that  these  pans  came 
originally  from  the  wonderful  palace  under  the  sea, 
where  the  Jewel  Princess  lived  who  married  the  fisher- 
boy  Urashima ;  and  at  first  there  were  seven  of  them, 
but  one  night  some  robbers  came  and  stole  three,  and 
made  off  in  a  boat.  But  the  dogs  began  to  bark  and 
roused  the  god,  and  when  he  saw  the  robbers  were  out 
of  reach,  he  raised  a  tremendous  storm  and  sank  boat 
and  pans  and  all ;  for  he  said,  "  They  came  from  the 
Jewel  Palace,  and  back  to  the  Jewel  Palace  they  shall 
go." 

However  it  may  have  been  in  prehistoric  times, 
this  part  of  the  coast  is  not  one  of  the  principal  salt- 
producing  regions  now ;  most  of  this  is  made  in  the 
south,  and  also  in  the  neighborhood  of  Yokohama. 
Japan  has  no  salt  mines,  and  the  only  way  of  getting 
this  necessity  is  from  the  sea ;  consequently  the  indus- 
try must  be  a  very  old  one — far  older,  surely,  than 
Japanese  dominion  in  this  part  of  the  islands.  In 
the  official  division  of  the  country  made  for  purposes 


SEXDAI   AND  MATSUSHIMA.  321 

of  taxation,  one  class  of  land  is  specified  as  shio-hama 
("salt  strand") — flat  stretches  of  sandy  coast  used  for 
salt-drying  and  boiling.  Rein  says  the  process  of 
making  it  is  the  same  as  in  China ;  they  take  a  flat, 
sandy  strip  lying  above  the  tide  line,  and  divide  it 
into  little  fields,  each  worked  by  two  men ;  after  level- 
ing a  field  carefully,  they  lay  over  it  a  coat  of  well- 
worked  clay,  thick  enough  to  act  as  a  cement.  On 
this  goes  a  layer  of  sand,  spread  evenly,  and  when 
this  is  ready  they  turn  in  sea  water  by  little  ditches, 
let  it  stand  till  it  evaporates,  and  then  turn  in  more, 
repeating  again  and  again  till  the  sand  is  very  full  of 
salt,  when  it  is  gathered  up  and  washed  in  a  filter 
with  more  sea  water,  which  carries  off  the  salt  and 
leaves  the  sand  behind,  ready  to  go  back  on  the  fields 
again.  The  water,  which  is  now  very  briny,  is  boiled 
in  shallow  pans,  made  of  woven  bamboo,  covered  on 
both  sides  with  a  clay  cement,  or  occasionally  in  iron 
pans  somewhat  like  the  old  ones  at  Shiogama.  The 
process  of  letting  the  water  filter  down  through  piles 
of  brush,  as  in  some  parts  of  Germany  and  near  New 
Bedford,  Massachusetts,  seems  not  to  be  in  use  any- 
where in  Japan.  Japanese  salt  is  damp,  grayish, 
queer-looking  stuff,  containing  a  good  deal  of  the 
original  sand ;  but  in  old  times  there  was  nothing 
better  to  be  had,  whether  for  salting  fish  or  seasoning 
soup. 

From   Shiogama   to   Matsushima   takes  from   two 
hours  to  four  or  five,  according  to  the  wind.     The 
Vol.  I.— 21 


322  JAPAN. 

boats  are  not  unlike  the  craft  on  Lake  Corao  or  Lecco, 
except  that  the  round,  white  canvas  cover  is  wanting ; 
instead  they  give  you  a  yane-bune  (roof-boat),  which 
has  a  tiny  cabin  amidships,  or  put  up  a  mat  shelter  to 
keep  off  the  sun„  There  are  tatami  (thick  mats)  to 
sit  on,  and  a  red  blanket  atop  for  elegance,  and  per- 
haps a  comfortable  pot  of  red  coals  to  warm  your 
fingers  over,  if  the  sea-wind  is  chilly.  If  you  are  so 
exacting  as  to  need  any  other  seat,  you  will  have  to 
make  a  special  contract — probably  with  mine  host  at 
the  little  inn  beside  the  shore,  where  you  wait  while 
the  boat  is  made  ready.  The  men  row  standing,  as 
the  Italians  do,  pushing  the  long  sweeps  with  an  easy 
swing,  till  they  can  run  outside  the  anchorage  and 
catch  a  favorable  wind.  Then,  like  Ulysses  and  his 
crew,  they  will  "hoist  up  the  mast  from  the  mast- 
crutch,  and  spread  out  the  white  sail " — only  in  all 
probability  the  sail  will  not  be  white,  but  pale-brown 
or  straw-colored  matting,  rigged  to  the  yard  in  strips 
hung  lengthwise  and  laced  together — not  in  horizontal 
strips,  as  the  Chinese  rig  their  mat  sails. 

And  so  away  through  a  very  fairyland  of  isles  and 
islets,  their  gray  tufa  rock  worn  by  the  waves  into  all 
manner  of  fantastic  shapes.  There  are  eighty-eight 
islands,  they  say,  between  Shiogama  and  Matsushima, 
and  one  hundred  and  eight  between  Matsushima  and 
Kinkwazan.  Probably  the  count  is  about  as  accurate 
as  the  numbering  of  the  islands  in  Casco  Bay.  Mat- 
sushima is  a  little  like  the  Maine  coast,  a  good  deal 


SENDAI   AND  MATSUSHIMA.  393 

like  the  Italian  shore  from  Naples  south  ;  most  of  all, 
perhaps,  like  Bermuda  and  the  cedar-covered  islands 
of  Hamilton  harbor,  for  the  ragged  coral  rock  takes 
on  much  of  the  same  picturesque  grace  as  this  sea- 
washed  volcanic  tufa.  Each  smallest  rock  bears  a 
pine — those  gnarled,  sweeping  hama-matsu  of  the 
Japanese  coast,  whose  long  branches  "  seek  down  "  to 
the  water,  the  Japanese  say,  just  as  a  child  stretches 
out  its  hands  to  its  mother.  The  shore,  too,  is  pine- 
clad  and  broken,  with  deep,  rocky  inlets,  and  the  bay, 
with  its  green  flock  of  islands,  reaches  away  in  a  wide 
curve  to  Oginohama,  locked  in  its  high,  bare  hills,  and 
crowned  by  Kinkwazan,  lifting  far  above  the  blue 
sea-line.  Kinkwazan  has  been  one  of  the  very  sacred 
places  since  the  earliest  times,  and  it  is  far  enough 
away  from  modern  life  to  keep  many  of  its  old  asso- 
ciations and  customs,  though  the  rule  which  forbade 
women  so  much  as  to  gaze  on  it  is  of  course  done 
away  with.  The  name  means  Golden-flower  Mountain, 
but  the  reason  for  it  nobody  knows,  unless,  as  Cham- 
berlain suggests,  it  comes  from  the  glitter  of  mica  in 
the  soil.  The  fame  of  Matsushima  arose  long  ago, 
almost  with  the  first  coming  of  the  Japanese  to  these 
parts.  Their  poets  have  raved  of  the  Thousand  Pines 
ever  since  the  seventh  century,  and  they  have  given  to 
every  smallest  island  an  individual  name,  sometimes 
descriptive,  sometimes  fanciful,  such  as  the  Elephant, 
the  Turtle,  Buddha's  Entrance  into  NirvAna. 

While   the  wind  holds,  the  men  sit  smoking  and 


324  JAPAN. 

deftly  steering  the  little  boat  as  it  winds  in  and  out, 
mile  after  mile,  slipping  under  low  branches  and 
rounding  sharp  corners,  where  you  see  the  jagged 
bottom  through  the  clear  water;  or  creeping  under 
sheltering  cliffs,  where  the  leaning  pines  are  doubled 
on  the  still  surface ;  and  so  at  last  into  the  little 
harbor  of  Matsushima,  with  its  neat  village  and  its 
colony  of  tea-houses  and  shops  for  the  sale  of  sea 
curiosities.  The  melbutsu  (specialty)  of  the  place  is 
the  fine  slate  of  Ishinomaki,  which  is  made  into  very 
smooth  and  beautiful  ink-stones.  Any  one  who  has 
tried  to  rub  down  a  cake  of  India-ink  on  an  ordinary 
glazed  porcelain  saucer  knows  what  a  hopeless  task  it 
is  to  try  to  get  anything  off  on  the  slippery  surface ; 
the  peoples  who  have  written  exclusively  with  this 
medium  could  never  have  done  it  if  they  had  not  had 
something  different  to  work  with.  The  slate  is  first 
cut  out  in  a  deep  hollow  at  one  end,  running  steeply 
into  a  shallower  hollow  at  the  other,  and  then  polished 
smooth,  and  finally  varnished  over  with  India-ink 
and  a  wash  of  vegetable  oil.  It  is  perfectly  smooth, 
and  yet  there  is  just  enough  tooth  to  work  the  ink  to 
the  thick,  velvety  black  liquid  good  brush  writers 
love.  Besides  slate,  a  green  serpentine  or  a  colored 
marble  is  often  used,  and  the  border  of  the  hollow  is 
frequently  enlarged  to  give  room  for  very  beautiful 
carving  in  intaglio  or  low  relief,  sometimes  pine  or 
plum  branches,  sometimes  figures,  or  Benten's  tortoises 
climbing  up  the  rocks. 


SENDAI  AND  MATSUSHIMA.  325 

The  little  Kwangetsuro  and  the  Matsushima  hotel 
are  as  clean  and  neat  as  the  Sendai  house  is  slatternly, 
and  it  is  pure  delight,  after  the  long  sail?  to  sit  on  the 
springy  mats  and  consume  the  freshest  of  fish,  with 
shoji  pushed  open  to  the  salt  air  and  all  the  beautiful 
bay  spread  out  before  you,  showing  here  and  there  a 
sail  among  the  dark  islands.  There  are  pretty  little 
walks  along  the  shore,  and  out  by  a  bridge  to  Oshima, 
the  Big  Island — a  more  than  usually  fantastic  thing 
of  rock  and  pine.  At  Matsushima  one  begins  to 
understand  where  the  Japanese  took  some  of  their 
models  for  landscape  gardening ;  odd  and  twisted  as 
some  of  their  creations  are,  they  yet  fall  behind  what 
nature  has  fashioned  here  by  force  of  winds  and  waves. 
And  therewith  one  perceives  afresh  how  true  to  the 
actual  appearances  of  things  are  many  of  the  Japanese 
painters'  most  startling  conventions. 

During  the  comparative  leisure  of  the  latter  part  of 
his  life,  Date  Masamune  spent  much  effort  and  a  large 
amount  of  money  in  the  restoration  and  beautifying 
of  the  temple  at  Matsushima,  gathering  for  the  pur- 
pose the  best  painters  and  artists  of  the  time,  which 
was  that  of  the  shrines  at  Nikko.  The  gold  back- 
grounds are  tarnished  now ;  but  even  so,  the  effect  of 
the  decorations  in  the  reception  rooms  and  other  apart- 
ments is  unusually  rich  and  fine.  The  temple  stands  a 
little  back  from  the  sea,  in  a  grove  of  pines ;  as  you 
enter  the  enclosure,  near  a  little  cave,  you  are  con- 
fronted  by  two  tall  figures  of  Kwannon,  carved  in 


326  JAPAN. 

black  slate — probably  from  the  quarries  of  Ishino- 
maki.  The  Ihai,  or  ancestral  tablets  of  the  Date 
family,  are  here,  and  many  interesting  relics  of  them  ; 
likewise  a  second  portrait-statue  of  Date  Masamune 
himself,  carved  in  wood,  which  stands  in  a  chapel 
behind  the  main  altar.  The  effigy  is  life-sized,  in 
armor,  seated  on  a  camp-stool,  such  as  knights  used  to 
carry  for  their  lords ;  a  one-eyed,  stern  old  warrior, 
grasping  sword  and  war-fan,  and  wearing  on  his 
helmet  the  crescent,  in  token  of  increasing  power. 
The  feet  are  apart,  the  mailed  hands  on  the  knees,  and 
the  head  lifted  with  a  suppressed  energy  that  is  very 
telling. 

Assuredly  he  was  a  man  to  admire ;  a  man  of  iron 
will,  of  flawless  honor,  of  wise,  far-seeing  statesman- 
ship. Tokugawa  Ieyasu  was  his  friend,  as  well  as 
master.  Hidetada,  Ieyasu's  son,  was  a  -man  of  far  less 
vigor  of  character;  dying  a  few  years  after  his  father, 
he  felt  that  the  great  Shogun's  work  was  incomplete, 
the  Tokugawa  power  hardly  secure  enough  to  be  held 
by  his  own  young  son,  lemitsu ;  and  he  bade  his  fol- 
lowers yield  the  Shogunate  rather  than  plunge  the 
country  again  into  a  civil  war.  Some  of  the  princes 
hesitated ;  Date  Masamune  alone  spoke  openly,  bid- 
ding them  remember  the  favors  they  had  enjoyed 
from  Ieyasu,  and  adding,  "  Before  you  touch  his 
grandson,  you  will  pass  over  my  dead  body."  Iemitsu 
became  Shogun,  and  proved  the  ablest  of  his  line. 

A  year  later  Date  came  to  Yedo  to  render  formal 


SENDAI  AND   MATSUSHIMA.  327 

homage  to  the  new  ruler ;  but  he  arrived  too  broken 
down  with  age  and  sickness  to  leave  his  yashiki,  and 
shortly  after  he  died  there,  "  in  my  bed,  and  not  in 
the  saddle,  as  I  had  hoped,"  he  said  regretfully  to 
the  young  Shogun,  who  came  to  visit  him.  "  The 
empire  is  at  peace,  but  who  knows  how  long  peace 
will  endure?  Order  and  quiet  enervate  meu,  and 
when  the  moment  of  action  arrives,  there  are  no 
longer  any  soldiers.  See  to  it  that  men  do  not  de- 
generate. You  alone  can  do  this,  and  I  shall  com- 
mand my  son  to  aid  you.  Do  not  forget  my  last 
counsel."  * 

Such  was  Date  Masamune,  Prince  of  Sendai,  the 
last  of  the  great  men  of  the  sixteenth  century.  Of 
such  a  man  we  may  well  believe  the  Matsushima 
statue  to  be  a  true  portrait. 

1  De  la  Mazeliere,  "Histoire  du  Japon." 


CHAPTER    XX. 

THE   OSHIU   KAIDO. 

The  old  post-road  north,  Oshiu  Kaido,  is  still 
kept  in  very  good  condition,  although  the  railroad 
follows  it  quite  closely  most  of  the  way  and  takes 
most  of  the  long-distance  traffic.  Leaving  Tokyo 
and  crossing  the  great  plain,  it  climbs  a  little  to  reach 
Utsunomiya,  where  the  branch  road  turns  off  to 
Nikko ;  then  it  keeps  nearly  due  north,  following  the 
trend  of  the  island,  passing  through  the  inland  prov- 
inces about  half-way  between  the  central  mountains 
and  the  sea,  except  at  Sendai,  where  it  swings  out  a 
little  towards  the  bay.  All  the  earlier  part  lies  in  a 
rich  and  well-cultivated  country,  and  in  some  places 
the  beautiful  old  pines  and  cryptomerias  are  still 
standing,  which  made  it  a  stately  avenue  for  the 
princes  to  ride  through.  Beyond  Sendai,  both  road 
and  railroad  follow  the  Kitamigawa,  climb  the  hills  in 
which  it  rises,  and  so  make  their  way  by  Morioka 
and  the  great  moors  to  Aomori,  on  the  northern  strait. 

Utsunomiya  was  a  castle-town  of  some  importance, 
belonging  to  one  of  the  Fudai  nobles ;  that  is  to  say, 
those  who  had  given  their  allegiance  to  the  Tokugawa 

328 


THE  OSHIU  KAIDO.  329 

before  the  final  battle  of  Sekigahara;  and,  as  the 
capital  of  a  prefecture,  it  has  kept  its  former  pros- 
perity, and  is  favored  with  one  of  the  ten-minute 
stops  of  the  through  trains.  As  the  carriages  slow 
into  the  long,  covered  station,  you  feel  as  if  pandemo- 
nium had  been  let  loose.  The  guards  hurry  down  the 
platform,  opening  doors  with  a  click  and  a  slam ;  the 
stone  pavements  ring  with  the  sharp  scrape  and  ping- 
pong  of  countless  excited  geta,  and  above  the  shouts 
of  the  guard,  the  din  of  voices  sound  the  staccato  cries 
of  the  lunch  and  tea-pot  men — "  O  bento  ! "  "  O  cha- 
ya!"  "O  bento!"  responding  to  each  other  like  an 
antiphonal  chant.  A  Japanese  Baedeker  must  surely 
star  these  Utsunomiya  o  bento — "honorable  lunch" 
boxes ;  even  for  a  foreigner,  after  one  has  grown  a 
little  used  to  Japanese  food  and  a  little  hardened  to 
the  shock  of  cold-rice  sandwiches,  the  neat  whitewood 
case  and  its  daintily-arranged  contents  become  very 
appetizing.  Washed  down  with  small  cupfuls  of 
freshly-made  tea,  from  the  o  chaya's  teapot,  a  Japan- 
ese, or  a  well-taught  foreigner,  will  make  an  excellent 
meal.  These  station-lunches  vary  in  freshness  and 
quality,  just  as  railroad  restaurants  do  all  over  the 
world  ;  and  Utsunomiya's  are  among  the  best.  The 
men  come  from  the  hotels,  which  make  a  point  of 
sending  them  down  to  meet  the  trains ;  and  it  must 
be  a  very  good  business.  Wheaten  biscuits,  fresh  and 
hot,  are  sold  at  some  of  these  larger  stations,  not  far 
from  Tokyo ;  they  are,  of  course,  an  innovation,  per- 


330  JAPAN. 

haps  an  imitation  of  the  English  penny  bun.  Some- 
times a  national  touch  is  added — a  stuffing  of  sweet 
black-bean  paste  ! — a  most  startling  compound  to  meet 
unawares  in  the  heart  of  an  innocent-looking  bun  ! 
The  result  is  a  cross  between  a  sugar-biscuit  and  a 
Japanese  manju,  which  is  a  round,  flattened  cake  of 
rice  dough,  filled  with  this  same  form  of  pease- por- 
ridge cold ;  and  if  your  manju  happens  to  be  toasted 
over  a  hibachi  of  charcoal,  on  a  crisp  autumn  evening, 
you  have  no  idea  till  you  try  how  good  it  can  be. 

Utsunomiya  has  sorrowful  memories  of  the  war  of 
the  Restoration  ;  a  terrible  fight  took  place  near  there, 
and  the  clansmen  were  obliged  to  retire  to  Aidzu,  the 
last  province  that  held  out,  which  lies  over  the  moun- 
tains almost  directly  to  the  north.  The  Aidzu  clan 
was  really,  as  the  angry  Imperialists  said,  "  the  root 
of  the  rebellion."  For  generations  they  had  been 
charged  with  the  care  of  the  city  of  Kyoto,  and  they 
had  watched  over  the  doings  of  the  palace  party  with 
the  eyes  of  a  hawk ;  to  have  been  deprived  of  this 
office  was  grievance  enough  for  their  pride.  They  had 
the  reputation  of  being  harder,  less  polished,  but  more 
soldierly  than  the  other  Samurai,  unless,  perhaps,  Sat- 
suma,  who  plumed  themselves  on  their  Spartan  quali- 
ties. Whatever  the  rest  did,  Aidzu  was  ready  to  hold 
out  for  the  Tokugawa  to  the  last  drop  of  blood,  even 
though  they  fought  against  the  "Brocade  Banner ;" 
for  if  the  young  Emperor  was,  as  they  believed,  co- 
erced or  led  astray  by  evil  counselors,  they  considered 


THE  OSHIU   KAIDO.  331 

themselves  justified  in  setting  him  aside  for  another  of 
the  house — namely,  the  boyish  prince-abbot,  whom 
they  had  carried  off  from  Uyeno. 

Wakamatsu,  the  castle-town  of  Aidzu,  lies  in  a 
beautiful  plain  twenty  to  thirty  miles  long  and  half  as 
broad,  famed  throughout  the  country  for  its  loveliness 
and  fertility.  To  the  north  lies  Bandaisan,  a  volcano 
some  eight  thousand  feet  high,  which  blew  its  crest 
off  suddenly  in  1888,  pouring  a  mass  of  mud  and  rock 
down  the  valley  on  its  northern  side ;  more  than  four 
hundred  people  were  killed,  and  four  villages  were 
overwhelmed,  while  seven  were  partly  destroyed. 
The  avalanche  blocked  the  course  of  the  river  Nagase, 
and  its  waters  spread  out  and  formed  a  lake  eight 
miles  long  and  two  wide;  a  village  by  it  was  left 
partly  in  and  partly  out  of  the  water.  The  damage 
was  greatest  on  the  north  side,  where  the  huge  mass 
was  flung  out  almost  horizontally,  though  hot  stones 
and  ashes  fell  all  about  the  foot  of  the  mountain.  The 
western  and  southern  sides  of  the  Aidzu  plain  are 
surrounded  by  lesser  mountains,  from  which  a  number 
of  streams  flow  clown  across  the  open  and  fall  into  lake 
Iwashiro  on  the  east,  watering  miles  of  rich  rice-fields  ; 
and  on  the  hills  are  plantations  of  lacquer  trees  and 
mulberry.  The  city,  Wakayama,  is  still  in  a  flourish- 
ing state,  but  the  noble  castle  on  the  hill  near  it  was 
torn  down,  even  to  the  gateways,  and  hardly  anything 
remains  but  a  few  of  the  old  trees. 

Wakamatsu  castle  was  not  taken  by  assault ;  when 


332  JAPAN. 

provisions  failed  the  lord  of  Aidzu  surrendered.  Had 
it  been  otherwise,  probably  few,  whether  men  or 
women,  would  have  been  taken  alive.  Old  men  and 
children  fought  in  that  war ;  the  women  ardently  de- 
sired the  privilege,  but  it  was  denied  them,  on  the 
ground  that  it  would  be  a  lasting  disgrace  to  the  clan 
to  have  it  said  that  they  lacked  men,  and  therefore 
were  obliged  to  employ  women  on  the  battlefield.  I 
have  before  me  an  account  of  the  siege,  written  in 
English  by  Mrs.  Iwamoto,  of  Tokyo,  from  her  own 
childish  recollections  and  those  of  three  friends,  who 
were  children  in  the  castle  during  that  terrible  time. 
It  begins  with  the  first  summons,  when  at  eight  o'clock 
one  summer  morning  the  clanging  bells  in  the 
watch  tower  warned  the  retainers  to  hurry  with  their 
families  to  the  shelter  of  the  castle.  There  had  been 
hot  fighting  in  Echigo  and  at  Shirakawa  pass,  and 
the  imperial  army  had  pushed  its  way  up  faster  than 
any  one  had  dreamed ;  those  who  made  most  haste 
only  gained  the  castle  gate  in  a  shower  of  flying 
bullets.  So  close  was  the  firing  that  some  gave  up  the 
attempt  to  reach  the  castle  at  all,  and  "  whole  families 
killed  themselves  rather  than  fall  into  the  hands  of 
the  enemy,"  the  men  alone  remaining  alive  in  order  to 
fight  to  the  last. 

Among  those  who  went  up  to  the  castle  was  the 
mother  of  a  Samurai,  named  Chikara,  who  had  been 
killed  in  the  fight  at  the  pass  a  short  time  before. 
"  The  lord  of  the  clan  had  condescended  to  visit  the 


THE  OSHIU   KAIDO.  333 

house  after  the  head  was  brought  in  from  the  battle- 
field, and,  taking  the  young  child  on  his  lap,  com- 
manded them  to  bring  him  up  to  be  like  his  loyal  and 
gallant  father."  Chikara's  mother  therefore  told  her 
daughter-in-law  to  take  the  child  and  hide  him,  while 
she  herself  went  up  to  the  castle,  believing,  as  all  did, 
that  it  could  not  hold  out  long.  "  In  fact,  nobody 
thought  of  living  in  fchose  days,  their  only  concern 
was  how  and  when  they  might  die  most  honorably." 
But  the  young  widow  refused  to  survive  her  husband 
and  mother ;  nor  would  she  yield  until  the  mother-in- 
law  exercised  her  right  to  disown  her  daughter-in- 
law,  and  sternly  bade  her  go,  or  she  should  no  longer 
belong  to  the  family.  Then  the  widow  took  the  boy 
and  fled,  happily  without  injury. 

Entering  the  castle  in  breathless  haste,  the  Avomen 
of  the  clan  were  ordered  to  attend  on  their  lady, 
and  going  to  her  apartments  they  found  her  quietly 
arranging  every  detail  with  coolness  and  dignity, 
showing  neither  haste  nor  flurry.  "  During  a  whole 
month's  siege,  while  the  roar  of  the  battle  was  heard 
without,  Lady  Teru  did  not  once  omit  her  usual  toil- 
ette, nor  did  she  ever  show  the  least  trepidation.  Her 
quiet  manner  strengthened  the  hearts  of  all  who  came 
before  her." 

The  siege  lasted  just  a  month,  and  all  had  time  to 
settle  into  a  routine  of  service,  caring  for  the  wounded, 
preparing  food,  even  making  bullets.  There  were 
several  ladies  who  made  up  their  minds  to  take  their 


334  JAPAN. 

own  lives,  "  but  having  seen  many  who  were  alarmed 
into  death  when  there  was  no  necessity  for  it "  (which 
in  Japan  is  almost  as  shameful  as  to  refuse  at  the  right 
time),  "  they  resolved  to  wait  till  the  great  crisis  should 
come,  and  then  dispatch  themselves  with  coolness  and 
composure."  They  knew  already  just  how  to  do  it 
— to  bind  the  knees  together  in  the  usual  sitting  pos- 
ture, then  take  a  sip  of  water  and  apply  the  sword. 

The  children  had  their  plays,  the  little  girls  filling 
the  small  sand  bags  with  which  Japanese  children 
play  jack-stones,  and  the  boys  fishing  with  bent  pins 
in  the  castle  pond,  or  even  flying  kites,  which  the 
enemy  took  for  some  ruse  meant  to  deceive  them.  On 
the  night  of  the  September  full  moon  the  ladies  held 
a  "  poem  party,"  as  was  proper  to  the  season — an 
occasion  for  moon-gazing  and  composing  uta9  thirty- 
one  syllabled  poems,  didactic  or  fanciful.  "  But  after 
the  middle  of  September,"  continues  Mrs.  Iwamoto, 
"  Ao,s7zi  (rice  boiled  and  dried  and  stored  for  use  on 
extreme  occasions)  wTas  brought  out  from  under  the 
watch  tower  and  began  to  be  used.  Then  we  knew 
that  the  worst  had  come.  .  .  .  Then  came  a  com- 
mand from  our  lord.  It  was  to  sew  a  flag  with 
'  kosan/  (surrender)  written  on  it.  The  women 
objected,  and  said  they  could  not  sew  the  flag  of  sur- 
render. But  there  was  no  help  for  it,  and  they  were 
obliged  to  obey  the  command."  The  next  day  the 
whole  body  of  inmates  filed  out  of  the  castle  gate — 
"  a  sorry,  crestfallen  picture." 


THE  OSHIU   KAIDO.  335 

I  have  quoted  at  perhaps  undue  length,  because  in 
many  ways  the  account  is  so  very  characteristic  of  old 
Japan,  and  because  the  same  spirit  exists  to-day,  how- 
ever turned  aside  into  other  channels  and  modified  by 
new  conceptions  of  what  is  or  is  not  right  and  suitable 
to  do.  For  this  was  the  atmosphere  in  which  the  men 
and  women  grew  up  who  are  the  present  generation  in 
Japan ;  the  siege  of  Aidzu  castle  was  in  1868,  some- 
thing less  than  five  years  after  the  close  of  our  own 
civil  war.  In  the  wider  outlook,  many  things  once 
great  seem  little ;  but,  happily,  the  Samurai  spirit  has 
not  altogether  disappeared. 

Aidzu  was  punished,  but  briefly.  In  the  wise 
amnesty  that  followed  the  surrender  all  was  soon 
forgiven,  though  for  a  time  the  sufferings  of 
the  Aidzu  Samurai  were  pitiful  beyond  the  troubles 
of  the  other  clans.  But  the  province  has  recovered, 
and  carries  on  all  its  old  industries  as  vigorously  as 
ever. 

The  Aidzu  specialty  is  lacquer — both  the  juice  and 
the  finished  ware.  What  we  know  as  shellac  or 
lacquer  varnish  is  quite  a  different  substance  from  the 
Japanese  ro  or  urushi,  which  is  the  juice  of  a  kind  of 
sumach,  rhus  vernicifera,  akin  to  our  poison  ivy  and 
the  sumachs  that  flame  across  our  swamps  in  autumn. 
It  grows  much  larger  than  our  sumachs,  though,  the 
trees  reaching  twenty-five  to  thirty  feet  in  height,  and 
as  much  as  two  feet  in  thickness  ;  the  timber  is  highly 
valued   for   its   close   grain  and  golden-yellow  color 


336  JAPAN. 

toward  the  heart,  and  the  seeds  produce  excellent  vege- 
table wax,  much  used  in  making  candles. 

The  tree  flourishes  best  away  from  the  sea,  and  in 
the  more  northern  provinces,  though  Yoshino  in 
Yamato  produces  the  finest  quality  grown ;  but  this 
is  easily  understood,  because  the  Yoshino  district  is 
wild  and  mountainous,  the  peaks  running  up  to  five 
thousand  and  six  thousand  feet,  and  the  loose,  rather 
gravelly  soil  is  exactly  what  the  lacquer  thrives  best 
in.  Naturally,  the  usual  practice  is  to  utilize  land 
which  cannot  be  cultivated  in  any  other  way,  such  as 
the  steep  sides  of  valleys,  where  even  wheat  will  not 
grow. 

The  juice  is  gathered  at  any  time  after  the  sap 
begins  to  flow,  in  April,  till  it  stops,  in  October  or 
November,  but  the  best  and  most  comes  out  in  the 
hottest  months.  The  man  who  takes  it  goes  from 
tree  to  tree,  making  a  horizontal  cut  with  a  knife, 
and  then,  returning  in  a  short  time,  scoops  out  the 
juice,  which  has  filled  the  cut,  but  does  not  overflow 
it.  To  do  this  he  uses  a  curved  spatula,  well  oiled, 
scraping  off  the  juice  against  the  side  of  his  pail  or 
joint  of  bamboo.  Trees  begin  to  bear  fruit  and  give 
sap  at  about  seven  or  eight  years,  but  their  best  yield 
is  from  fifteen  to  thirty.  The  branches  and  twigs  cut- 
off for  trimming  are  steeped  in  water,  and  give  an 
inferior  grade  of  juice,  which  is  mixed  with  drying 
oil  and  used  for  an  under  varnish.  The  season's 
yield  averages  about  a  pound  of  good  sap  to  every 


THE  OSHIU   KAIDO.  337 

fifty  trees.  For  shipping  they  pack  it  down  in  tight 
kegs,  well  wrapped  in  oiled  paper,  which  takes  the 
place  of  tarpaulin  for  many  such  purposes  in  Japan. 

As  it  comes  from  the  tree  the  sap  is  thick  and 
sticky,  and  of  a  grayish  color.  Before  being  used  it 
must  be  strained  through  a  cloth  to  get  out  the  dust, 
bits  of  bark,  etc.,  and  then  well  stirred  in  shallow 
tubs  and  set  in  the  sun  for  several  hours,  to  dry  out 
the  superfluous  water.  In  places  where  the  manufac- 
ture of  lacquer  wares  is  considerable  special  dealers 
do  this  part,  and  retail  to  the  real  lacquer-workers. 

There  is  a  vast  difference  in  the  way  pieces  are  pre- 
pared for  lacquering,  and  in  the  kind  of  wood  used  to 
make  them.  The  finest  decoration  is  only  put  on 
articles  made  of  the  lightest  and  finest  grain,  and  all 
the  joints  are  cut  down  with  a  sharp  knife,  making  a 
triangular  hollow,  which  must  be  filled  with  cotton 
cloth,  carefully  pasted  down,  and  varnished  over  with 
an  under  coat  or  two,  before  anything  else  is  done. 
Then  the  worker  lays  a  coat  of  juice,  mixed  with  his 
ground  color,  usually  either  black  or  cinnabar  red ; 
the  black  (roiro)  is  a  fine  iron  compound,  the  same 
that  the  women  used  to  use  for  blackening  their  teeth. 
The  coloring  matter  does  not  combine  with  the  urushic 
acid,  which  is  the  principal  ingredient  of  the  juice,  but 
is  suspended  as  a  body  color  in  it. 

Each  layer  of  the  varnish  must  be  thoroughly  dried 
and  polished  before  another  can  be  placed ;  and  since 
a  fine  piece  may  have  as  many  as  twenty  to  thirty 
Vol.  I.- 22 


338  JAPAN. 

coats,  it  may  be  many  months  in  the  making.  The 
drying  takes  from  one  or  two  to  several  days,  and  the 
curious  part  of  it  is  that  it  must  be  done  in  a  moist 
atmosphere  and  at  a  moderate  heat.  If  the  stuff  is 
heated  very  hot,  or  if  it  is  put  in  a  dry  place,  it  simply 
will  not  harden  at  all.  Experiments  have  proved  the 
reason  to  be  that  what  happens  is  not  mere  drying, 
but  a  kind  of  fermentation.  The  juice  contains  be- 
tween two  and  three  per  cent,  of  nitrogenous  matter, 
and  when  it  is  exposed  to  the  air,  this  acts  on  the 
urushic  acid  so  that  it  oxydizes,  and  becomes  not  only 
perfectly  hard,  but  entirely  insoluble  in  alcohol,  ben- 
zine, and  several  other  substances  which  dissolved  it 
easily  before.  Of  course,  the  old  lacquer-workers 
bothered  themselves  about  reasons  just  as  little  as  our 
grandmothers  did  when  they  "  set  a  fresh  rising"  but 
they  learned  to  place  the  pieces  in  a  special  drying 
box  and  keep  it  warm  and  moist ;  and  they  knew  that 
the  best  time  in  the  year  for  working  was  in  the  wet 
summer  months,  when  the  temperature  keeps  between 
seventy-five  and  ninety  degrees  most  of  the  time. 
For  this  reason,  too,  the  moist  air  of  Tokyo  and 
Kyoto  is  well  fitted  for  lacquer-working,  and  a  large 
proportion  of  the  finer  wares  are  made  in  the  two 
capitals.  Some  of  the  earlier  coats  are  polished  with 
a  powder  of  calcined  deer's  horn,  which  gives  a 
smooth  matt  surface ;  the  later  rubbings  are  made 
with  soft  charcoal  and  the  same  powder  used  very 
fine  and  applied  with  a  cotton  cloth ;  and  lastly  the 


THE  OSIIIU  KAIDO.  339 

workman  uses  his  finger  and  a  little  oil,  till  he  attains 
the  most  brilliant  gloss.  The  texture  of  a  fine  pieee 
of  lacquer  is  delightful  to  the  touch,  and  is  one  test 
of  its  quality,  and  another  is  the  lightness  of  the 
wood.  I  have  handled  a  box  several  inches  square 
which  did  not  weigh  more  than  a  sheet  or  two  of 
writing  paper.  Another  test  is  that  the  grain  of  the 
wood  does  not  show  through  the  varnish. 

Yoshida  and  other  Japanese  writers  claim  that  the 
lacquer  tree  is  indigenous  to  Japan,  but  Rein  thinks 
there  is  no  positive  proof,  and  that  the  probability  is 
that  both  the  tree  and  its  use  were  imported  from  China, 
with  other  arts.  This  seems  the  less  likely,  as  there 
was  an  imperial  Bureau  of  lacquer  in  the  fourth  cen- 
tury, before  the  great  wave  of  Chinese  influence.  In 
the  sixth  century  lacquer  is  named  among  the  articles 
which  may  be  oifered  in  payment  of  taxes.  The  INara 
period  was  one  of  development  in  this,  as  well  as  the 
other  arts ;  and  another  time  of  rapid  advance  was 
under  the  luxurious  Ashikaga  Shoguns,  in  the  four- 
teenth century. 

But  it  was  in  the  last  quarter  of  the  seventeenth 
century  that  this  most  Japanese  of  the  arts  of  Japan, 
as  Gonse  called  it,  reached  its  highest  expression, 
under  the  artist  Korin,  whose  name  is  almost  identi- 
fied with  lacquer.  This  period — the  time  of  the  fifth 
Tokugawa  Shogun,  a  younger  son  of  Iemitsu — is 
known  in  Japanese  as  the  Gen-roku.  It  was  a  time 
of  the  greatest  activity  in  literature  and  all  the  arts, 


340  JAPAN. 

a  time  of  temple  and  palace  building,  and  of  increas- 
ing demand  for  the  accessories  of  luxurious  living. 
This  Shogun  Tsunayoshi  was  a  great  patron  of  classical 
studies,  so  much  so  that  he  not  only  founded  profes- 
sorships and  encouraged  the  clan  schools  of  the  prov- 
inces, but  himself  delivered  courses  of  lectures  to 
audiences  of  feudal  nobles,  Samurai,  and  priests,  both 
Buddhist  and  Shinto.  One  may  imagine  the  hearers 
were  attentive  when  the  professor  was  the  actual 
ruler  of  the  country.  This  period  Avas  also  the  time 
when  trade  intercourse  with  the  Dutch  was  at  its 
height,  and  when  much  of  European  thought  and 
science  was  filtering  into  Japan,  in  spite  of  the  ex- 
clusion laws.  There  is  evidence,  too,  of  renewed 
Chinese  influence  in  Gen-roku  art,  as  well  as  in  the 
ornamentation  of  the  Nikko  temples,  which  immedi- 
ately preceded.  The  Shiba  temples  belong  to  this 
time,  and  there  is  an  exceedingly  fine  specimen  of 
lacquer  work  in  the  shrines  of  the  main  temple. 

But  if  the  phoenixes  and  peonies  and  grinning  lion- 
monsters  of  the  Buddhist  temples  seem  to  smack  of 
Chinese  taste,  Korin  is  altogether  of  Japan  •  and  the 
gold  lacquer  for  which  he  chiefly  designed  is  the  hap- 
piest of  mediums  for  his  style — flexible  and  delicate, 
yet  compelling  a  broad  and  simple  treatment.  The 
use  of  gold  on  lacquer,  as  well  as  inlays  of  metal  and 
mother-of-pearl,  was  at  least  as  early  as  the  Heian 
period — the  ninth  century — when  the  court  removed 
from  Nara  to  Kyoto.     The  decoration   is  laid  on  a 


THE  OSHIU   KAIDO.  341 

surface  already  grounded  and  polished ;  the  design  is 
first  drawn  on  paper,  and  the  outline  retraced  on  the 
under  side  with  lacquer,  which  has  been  boiled  to 
destroy  its  hardening  power,  so  that  it  can  be  cleaned 
off  when  done  with.  The  paper  is  then  laid  on  the 
article  to  be  decorated  and  rubbed  gently,  when  the 
mark  of  the  lacquer  remains  on  the  surface.  This 
outline  is  then  filled  with  fresh  lacquer,  on  which  fine 
gold  dust  is  applied  while  it  is  still  wet ;  after  which 
the  piece  is  put  away  to  dry,  and  again  the  decoration 
is  painted  over  with  a  coat  of  transparent  lacquer. 
When  this  last  has  hardened,  the  design  is  rubbed 
down  with  hard  charcoal,  and  finally  polished  with 
deer's-horn  powder  and  a  little  oil.  If  the  piece  is 
large — say  a  writing-desk  or  small  cabinet— only  a 
little  of  the  design  can  be  laid  at  a  time,  so  that  with 
the  successive  dryings  and  polishings  the  old  leisurely 
days  were  none  too  many  for  the  lacquer-worker. 

One  of  the  wonders  of  Korin  is  the  fertility  of  his 
imagination  and  the  quantity  of  his  designs;  they 
created  a  school  of  lacquer  which  has  been  little 
altered  since  his  time.  He  was  also  a  landscape 
painter  of  considerable  note,  but  the  fame  of  his 
lacquer  has  quite  cast  his  other  works  into  the  shade. 
His  subjects  were  ideal  landscapes,  birds  and  flowers, 
such  as  a  group  of  crows  sitting  on  a  branch,  a 
graceful  iris  flower,  or  a  flight  of  storks  across  the 
moon.  Korin  studied  first  the  Kano  school  of 
painting,    then    the    more    delicate    Tosa    style,    and 


342  JAPAN. 

finally  worked  for  a  time  with  a  famous  artist  in 
metal ;  and  his  own  style  undoubtedly  profited  by  all 
three.  His  subjects  are  treated  with  ideal  grace,  yet 
with  the  most  perfect  fidelity  to  nature  —  to  those 
aspects  of  nature  which  can  be  expressed  by  the 
broad,  flowing  lines  of  the  Japanese  brush  on  a  flat 
surface.  Surely  that  is  the  essential  quality  of  Japan- 
ese art  —  that  it  never  attempts  more  than  it  can 
readily  accomplish. 

Naturally  the  more  artistic  works  are  not  produced 
in  these  northern  provinces  ;  their  wares  are  generally 
simple  trays  and  bowls  and  boxes,  the  common  arti- 
cles of  Japanese  daily  life.  Bowls — the  small  covered 
bowls  of  plain  brown  or  black  lacquer  in  which  the 
Japanese  serve  their  soup — are  rather  a  specialty  of 
Fukushima,  an  important  town  about  fifty  miles  south 
of  Sendai.  The  city  lies  in  a  beautiful  little  plain  en- 
circled by  hills,  which  is  said  to  have  once  been  the 
bed  of  a  lake,  but  if  so  it  has  long  since  disappeared, 
and  there  are  only  a  few  historical  allusions  to  support 
the  idea.  It  is  known  that  in  the  twelfth  century 
Yoshitsune  fled  across  this  region  to  a  neighboring 
castle,  escaping  from  Yoritomo's  unjust  anger;  but 
Yoritomo's  spies  pursued  him  even  here,  and  he  fled 
yet  farther  north  toward  the  wild  Ainu  country,  and 
put  himself  under  the  protection  of  a  kinsman  who 
was  governor  of  the  province.  The  kinsman  was 
faithful,  but  when  he  died,  the  son  was  afraid  or  un- 
willing to  oppose  Yoritomo,  and  betrayed  the  trust. 


THE  OSIIIU   KAIDO.  343 

According  to  one  version  of  the  story,  Yoshitsune  and 
his  companions  died  fighting  against  overwhelming 
odds,  on  the  banks  of  a  little  river  which  flows  into 
the  Kitamigawa ;  and  his  head  was  cut  off*  and  sent  to 
Yoritomo  at  Kamakura. 

Like  Sendai  and  so  many  others,  Fukushima  was  an 
old  castle-town  and  is  now  the  capital  of  its  prefec- 
ture ;  it  is  a  great  market  for  raw  silk  and  silkworm 
eggs,  as  well  as  for  the  woven  silks  made  in  this  and 
the  neighboring  provinces.  A  branch  railroad  soon 
to  be  opened  will  go  westward,  and  will  bring  in  easy 
reach  another  large  silk-growing  region,  the  town  and 
prefecture  of  Yonezawa. 

They  say  the  silk  trade  of  Yonezawa  is  largely  in 
the  hands  of  the  old  Samurai  families,  who  were  very 
numerous  and  very  thrifty  and  well  to  do,  so  that  they 
suffered  less  than  most  Samurai  by  the  changes  of  the 
Restoration.  The  reason  for  this  satisfactory  state  of 
affairs  goes  back  to  Ieyasu  and  the  battle  of  Sekiga- 
hara,  and  concerns  the  rise  and  fall  of  the  great  Uye- 
sugi  family,  whose  vassal,  Ota  Dokwan,  founded  the 
first  Yedo  castle. 

This  great  clan  belonged  to  the  feudal  nobility  of 
Yoritomo's  time,  and  several  of  the  chiefs  held  the 
office  of  Kwambaku  or  governor  of  Kamakura  under 
the  Ashikaga  Shoguns  of  the  fourteenth  century ;  they 
were  among  the  number  of  lesser  lords  avIio  rose  sud- 
denly to  great  power,  through  the  Ashikaga  policy  of 
making  large  grants  of  land  to  their  followers,  with- 


;U4  JAPAN. 

out  any  definite  system  of  control  over  the  lords  so 
enriched.  In  this  way  the  Uyesugi  obtained  Echigo, 
on  the  west  coast,  and  held  it  for  several  generations, 
in  spite  of  fierce  wars.  Their  special  enemy  was 
Takeda  Shingen,  whose  castle  was  at  Kofu,  in  the 
mountains  behind  Fuji  San.  A  typical  specimen  of 
the  age  was  Takeda ;  brilliant,  reckless,  fighting  for 
pure  love  of  danger,  so  able  that  the  last  battle  be- 
tween him  and  Uyesugi  Kenshin  became  a  model  of 
tactics  for  after  time.  Takeda  won  this  fight  and 
greatly  lessened  the  power  of  the  Uyesugi,  and  shortly 
after  shaved  his  head  and  became  a  Buddhist  monk — 
renouncing  all  worldly  matters  except  war;  this, 
though,  was  nothing  out  of  the  way  for  a  monk  of  his 
land  and  age. 

By  this  time  Hideyoshi  came  upon  the  scene.  The 
Uyesugi  were  not  prompt  enough  in  making  submis- 
sion to  him,  and  as  a  punishment  were  deprived  of 
Echigo;  but  Aidzu,  which  they  received  instead,  was 
not  a  bad  substitute.  But  a  generation  later  they 
sided  against  Ieyasu  ;  and  this  time,  when  the  retribu- 
tion came,  they  were  transferred  to  a  little  mountain- 
ous territory  to  the  north  of  Aidzu,  with  no  coast,  and 
not  even  a  large  lake  or  river.  Yonezawa  yielded  a 
bare  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  koku  on  which  to 
support  the  retainers  who  had  been  maintained  out  of 
a  revenue  of  one  million  in  Echigo.  The  clan  ran 
heavily  into  debt,  and  the  people  were  taxed  beyond 
endurance. 


THE  OSHIU  KAIDO.  345 

To  this  unhappy  province  came  a  boy  ruler,  a  lad 
of  seventeen,  adopted  from  a  neighboring  family,  be- 
cause the  old  lord  of  Yonezawa  had  no  heir.  It  is 
recorded  that  the  boy  reached  his  territory  on  a  chilly 
autumn  day,  and  as  he  rode  among  the  wretched  vil- 
lages and  scanty  harvests,  the  attendants  saw  him  care- 
fully blowing  up  a  charcoal  fire  in  a  small  hibachi 
which  had  been  placed  in  his  litter.  One  of  them 
oifered  to  bring  his  lord  a  fresh  fire,  but  Yozan  de- 
clined, saying,  "  I  am  learning  a  great  lesson ;  after- 
wards I  will  tell  you."  At  the  inn  where  they  haltc  d 
for  the  night,  Yozan  called  his  train  together  and  said, 
"  To-day  despair  took  hold  of  me,  as  I  saw  with  my 
own  eyes  my  people's  miseries.  Then  I  noticed  the 
little  fire  before  me,  which  was  on  the  point  of  going 
out ;  and  I  took  it  up,  and  by  blowing  carefully  and 
patiently  I  succeeded  in  reviving  it.  May  I  not  be 
able  in  the  same  way  to  revive  the  land  and  the  people 
that  are  under  my  care?" 

The  first  necessity  was  to  lighten  taxation.  Yozan 
cut  down  his  own  expenses  to  one-fifth,  and  the  retain- 
ers' allowances  to  one-half;  whatever  revenue  could 
thus  be  saved  went  toward  paying  the  clan's  debt. 
But  it  was  no  less  important  to  bring  back  thrift  and 
decency  among  the  people,  demoralized  as  they  were 
by  want  and  wretchedness.  "As  well  expect  an  egg- 
plant from  a  cucumber  vine  as  look  for  wealth  from  a 
misgoverned  people/'  says  the  Japanese  proverb. 
Yozan  sought  out  men  of  the  highest  character  and 


346  JAPAN. 

ability,  and  made  them  governors  and  sub-officers ; 
then  he  appointed  a  number  of  itinerant  teachers,  who 
were  to  instruct  the  peasants  in  morals  and  ceremonies 
— "of  filial  piety,  of  pity  towards  widows  and  orphans, 
of  matters  of  marriages,  of  decency  in  clothing,  of  food 
and  ways  of  eating,  of  funeral  services,  of  house  re- 
pairs, and  so  on."  And  thirdly,  he  sent  out  the 
strictest  of  police,  bidding  them  "show  Emma's  justice 
and  righteous  wrath,  but  fail  not  to  store  Jizo's  mercy 
in  your  bosom." 

It  was  the  time  of  the  Great  Peace,  and  Yozan  set 
his  idle  Samurai  to  tilling  the  ground  and  bringing 
waste  land  under  cultivation.  Every  Samurai  family 
was  required  to  plant  fifteen  lacquer  trees,  and  every 
temple  twenty.  Whoever  set  out  more  was  rewarded ; 
whoever  did  not  replace  one  that  died,  was  fined.  The 
result  was  over  a  million  trees  in  a  few  years,  to  the 
very  great  profit  of  the  district ;  and  as  many  paper 
trees  were  also  planted  in  waste  places.  To  be  able 
to  plant  mulberry,  Yozan  cut  fifty  gold  pieces  out  of 
the  allowance  of  two  hundred  and  nine,  which  he  had 
reserved  for  his  own  household,  and  used  them  as  far 
as  they  would  go,  and,  after  fifty  years,  the  few  thou- 
sands of  trees  which  he  had  been  able  to  plant  had 
grown  up  and  were  replanted  from  cuttings,  till  there 
was  no  more  space  left  for  them  in  the  land. 

But  this  was  all  hill-cultivation.  There  was  land 
fit  for  rice,  if  only  it  could  be  sufficiently  irrigated ; 
so  this  poorest  of  the  Daimyo  undertook  two  of  the 


THE  OSIIIU   KAIDO.  347 

greatest  engineering  works  in  old  Japan  ;  the  one 
brought  water  for  twenty-eight  miles,  through  via- 
ducts and  on  long  and  high  embankments,  and  the 
other  changed  the  course  of  a  large  stream,  carrying 
it  through  a  tunnel  in  a  mass  of  granite  rock — a  work 
of  twenty  years,  accomplished  by  a  self-taught  engi- 
neer, an  awkward,  silent  man,  whom  everybody  thought 
a  dolt,  till  the  chief  discovered  him  to  be  a  mathematical 
o-enius.  When  we  consider  the  rude  instruments  of 
the  time,  such  work  is  not  small.  Thus  supplied  with 
abundance  of  water,  Yonezawa  became  one  of  the  most 
fertile  of  the  provinces. 

Even  this  was  not  all.  From  their  earliest  begin- 
nings, the  Uyesugi  had  been  distinguished  for  their 
love  of  letters  and  patronage  of  scholars ;  one  of  the 
family  had  revived  a  college  of  the  Ashikaga  time, 
and  many  had  promoted  the  study  of  classical  Japan- 
ese. As  soon  as  his  material  reforms  were  well  under 
way,  Lord  Yozan  followed  the  family  tradition,  by 
re-establishing  the  Clan  School,  as  the  Samurai  col- 
leges were  called,  and  endowing  a  number  of  scholar- 
ships, so  as  to  bring  it  within  the  reach  of  even  the 
poorest  of  his  retainers.  With  this  he  also  started  a 
medical  school,  favoring  the  new  Dutch  system,  which 
a  few  Japanese  had  learned  at  Nagasaki. 

Yozan  lived  to  be  seventy,  keeping  his  frugal  habits 
to  the  end,  wearing  only  cotton  and  eating  the  sim- 
plest of  food.  He  saw  his  house  free  from  difficulties, 
his  people   well  nourished,  and  "the  clan   that  had 


348  JAPAN. 

not  been  able  to  raise  five  pieces  of  gold  by  their 
united  effort,  could  now  raise  ten  thousand  at  a 
moment's  notice."  No  wonder  that  the  people  wept 
for  him,  or  that  the  little  province  has  been  prosper- 
ous ever  since. 

The  region  through  which  the  railroad  passes  is 
very  different;  indeed,  soon  after  leaving  Sendai,  the 
whole  aspect  of  the  country  seems  changed.  Instead 
of  villages,  making  an  almost  continuous  line  along  the 
highway,  and  fields  cultivated  to  the  last  inch,  from 
sea  to  mountain's  edge,  as  in  the  south,  you  pass  for 
hours  through  districts  sparsely  populated,  and  scanty 
acres,  leveled  with  toil,  between  ravines  and  steep 
hills ;  or,  again,  miles  of  grassy  moor,  stretching  away 
and  away,  without  a  sign  of  life.  The  wildest,  most 
beautiful  and  most  desolate  portion  is  on  the  upper 
waters  of  the  Kitamigawa,  and  on  the  pass  which 
crosses  between  Fukuoka  and  Morioka,  where  the  rail- 
road follows  up  one  little  branch  to  its  source,  then 
crosses  over  the  divide  and  winds  down  the  narrow 
valley  of  another  stream.  Morioka  is  a  fine  old  town, 
the  capital  of  a  prefecture  now,  and  formerly  the  castle 
of  the  Daimyo  of  Nambu.  It  lies  in  the  centre  of  a 
beautiful  cultivated  plain,  dominated  on  the  northwest 
by  a  fine  volcanic  cone,  rising  six  thousand  eight 
hundred  feet,  in  those  sweeping  lines  which  Japanese 
mountains  take  so  often. 

It  was  the  coast  of  this  province  which  received  the 
full  force  of  one  of  the  greatest  tidal  waves  of  modern 


THE  OSHIU   KAIDO.  349 

times,  in  June  of  1894.  To  understand  the  kind  and 
extent  of  the  damage,  one  should  know  the  Japanese 
coast,  with  its  little  bays  and  chines,  as  they  would 
call  them  in  the  Isle  of  Wight,  shut  in  by  high,  steep 
cliffs,  against  which  the  little  villages  nestle,  or  creep 
down  to  the  shore  line.  Against  such  a  coast,  from 
Kinkwazan  to  the  Tsugaru  strait,  and  even  across  to 
the  Hokkaido,  rose  a  sudden  wall  of  water,  variously 
estimated  at  from  twenty  to  eighty  feet  in  height,  crush- 
ing the  little  houses  together  as  if  they  had  been  egg- 
shells, breaking  trees  short  at  the  root  and  carrying 
the  stone  pillars  of  torii  hundreds  of  feet.  It  was  the 
day  of  the  May  festival,  according  to  the  old  calendar, 
which  is  generally  followed  for  such  things  in  the 
country ;  and  every  house  was  keeping  holiday. 
There  was  little  warning ;  two  or  three  slight  shocks 
of  earthquake,  then  a  roar,  said  to  have  been  like  the 
firing  of  cannon ;  and  then  the  wave.  A  few  fled 
up  the  cliffs  and  escaped ;  the  most  were  caught  and 
droAvned,  or  killed  by  the  falling  houses.  Some  towns 
and  villages  were  totally  swept  away ;  the  estimate 
was  between  twenty-five  and  thirty  thousand  lives 
lost,  eight  thousand  houses  entirely  destroyed  and  thir- 
teen thousand  damaged,  besides  immense  destruction 
of  nets  and  shipping.  Large  boats  were  carried  far 
up  the  land  and  lodged  in  the  rice-fields  and 
orchards. 

The  news  was  telegraphed  at  once,  and  relief  par- 
ties hurried  to  the  district.     In  one  village  the  tele- 


350  JAPAN. 

graph  operator  saw  his  family  killed  before  his  eyes, 
but  he  gathered  himself  and  his  instruments  out  of  the 
wreckage,  and  went  to  work  without  delay  to  summon 
help.  The  Red  Cross  Society  is  always  ready  for 
such  work,  floods  and  earthquakes,  more  or  less  severe, 
keeping  them  in  far  too  good  practice ;  and  the  gov- 
ernors and  under-officers  of  the  three  prefectures  came 
also,  and  after  them  the  missionary  bodies,  which  natu- 
rally were  less  prepared  for  such  service,  but  did  it 
gladly  and  well  when  they  did  arrive.  It  was  not 
easy  ;  the  extent  of  coast  affected  was  so  great,  and 
the  distance  from  the  railroad  so  considerable  and 
over  hilly,  poor  roads ;  but  the  system  and  care  with 
which  the  government  officials  acted  was  beyond 
praise.  The  Emperor  and  Empress  made  personal 
gifts,  besides  the  government  grants  for  tools  and 
fishing  apparatus  ;  and  newspapers  and  large  business 
houses,  native  and  foreign,  opened  subscription  lists, 
which  were  promptly  and  gladly  responded  to. 

There  were  many  strange  escapes — one  taken  and 
another  left.  Two  French  priests  were  at  an  inn  ; 
the  one  fled  in  his  stockings,  the  other  stopped  at  the 
door  to  put  on  his  shoes  and  was  drowned.  A  baby 
was  found  in  a  tree,  quite  unhurt ;  another  Avas  floated 
out  to  sea.  Now,  the  fishermen  of  the  villages  wTere 
far  outside,  engaged  in  their  deep-sea  fishing — it  was 
eight  o'clock  in  the  evening  when  the  wave  came — 
and  their  boats  had  been  lifted  on  the  long  swell,  with- 
out their  noticing  anything  unusual.     Thus  they  were 


THE  OSIIIU   KAIDO.  351 

rowing  quietly  home,  when  a  boatload  of  them  saw 
something  floating  in  the  water  and  went  over  to  see 
what  it  was.  The  thing  proved  to  be  a  tatami — one 
of  the  thick  pieces  of  rush  matting  of  a  Japanese 
house — and  on  it  lay  a  bundle  wrapped  in  a  quilt. 
They  opened  it,  and  found  the  sleeping  baby,  carried 
out  from  their  own  village. 

Up  to  this  time  these  remote  coast  villages  had  been 
less  touched  by  modern  progress  than  any  part  of  the 
empire;  on  account  of  the  hills  and  ridges  inland, 
they  communicated  with  one  another  almost  entirely 
by  sea,  and  occasionally  with  the  larger  coast  towns 
in  the  same  manner ;  but  with  the  rest  of  the  world 
they  had  little  to  do.  It  is  said  that  in  some  places 
the  people  hardly  knew  of  the  change  of  government, 
and  when  the  papers  entitling  them  to  receive  relief 
were  given  them,  they  thought  the  gift  came  from  the 
Prince  of  Nambu,  their  former  lord,  and  they  lifted 
the  papers  reverently  to  their  foreheads,  expressing 
thanks  to  his  lordship  for  his  condescension. 

Fukuoka  is  the  only  town  of  any  importance  be- 
tween Morioka  and  Aomori,  which  is  another  eight 
hours  by  rail,  making  the  full  tale  of  twenty-six  hours 
from  Tokyo ;  and  never  a  sleeping  car  to  do  it  in, 
unless  one  has  been  put  on  lately.  Above  Sendai, 
though,  the  trains  are  seldom  full,  and  that  means 
plenty  of  room  to  lie  down  and  be  quite  comfortable. 
As  for  food,  one  must  either  take  it  along,  or  culti- 
vate  a   taste   for   Japanese   o   bento,    which    is    the 


352  JAPAN. 

easier,  since  Morioka's  lunch-boxes  are  uncommonly 
good. 

Aomori  lies  at  the  head  of  a  gourd-shaped  bay, 
twenty  miles  long,  which  opens  by  a  narrow  mouth 
into  Tsugaru  strait.  It  is  the  terminus  of  the  main- 
line  railroad,  and  the  port  for  crossing  to  Hakodate,  and 
it  is  also  a  garrison  town  ;  and  that  is  about  all  there 
is  of  it.  Once  on  a  time  the  government  had  a  stock 
farm  near  Aomori,  but  that  has  been  moved  away.  A 
good  many  horses  are  still  raised  in  the  neighborhood, 
and  there  are  orchards  of  apples,  esteemed  the  best  in 
Japan,  and  other  fruits,  likewise  introduced  from 
America.  The  whole  region  is  open  to  the  bleak 
Siberian  winds,  and  the  air  is  bright  and  keen,  and 
often  bitterly  cold.  The  truth  is,  Aomori  is  a  dreary 
little  place,  in  spite  of  some  good  shops  and  a  con- 
siderable trade ;  the  streets  look  half-deserted,  and  far 
too  wide  for  the  low  houses,  which  are  not  thatched  or 
tiled,  but  loosely  shingled  and  piled  over  with  stones, 
to  keep  the  shingles  down,  giving  them  an  air  of  hope- 
less poverty  and  untidiness.  The  shop-fronts  are 
darkened  by  a  sort  of  arcade  over  the  sidewalk,  closed 
in  winter  by  storm -shutters,  to  keep  out  the  drifting 
snow,  as  they  do  also  at  Niigata  and  some  other  places 
on  the  west  coast.  Altogether,  they  have  a  look  of 
forlorn  compromise,  these  poor  little  towns  that  are 
trying  to  live  Japanese  fashion  in  the  biting,  un- 
Jap:in<*se  north. 

The  inhabitants  of  Aomori  seem  to  be  either  trim 


THE  OSHIU   KAIDO.  353 

soldiers  or  unkempt  fishermen,  or  peasants  leading 
squealing,  ill-tempered  horses,  which  take  every  oppor- 
tunity to  engage  in  a  free  fight,  regardless  of  the  carts 
they  are  hitched  to.  An  army  of  crows  also  quarters 
here,  and  their  dances  of  a  morning  on  the  shingled 
roofs  would  rouse  the  Seven  Sleepers.  But  very  few 
travelers  stay  to  hear  them.  The  train  from  Tokyo 
gets  in  at  four  in  the  afternoon,  and  the  Hakodate- 
Mororan  boat  leaves  at  ten  or  eleven  in  the  evening ; 
or,  going  south,  you  reach  Aomori  from  Hakodate  at 
daybreak,  and  take  the  train  at  ten  in  the  morning. 
There  is  no  pier ;  the  steamers  lie  out  in  the  bay,  and 
you  row  to  them  by  lantern-light  in  big  sampans ;  the 
men  push  and  swing  back  at  the  long  oars,  keeping 
time  to  a  wailing  chant  that  echoes  weirdly  across  the 
dark  water,  and  is  taken  up  by  boat  after  boat  steal- 
ing out  toward  the  high,  black  hull,  with  its  winking 
lights.  The  steamers  are  clean  and  fairly  large,  and 
the  sixty  miles  of  bay  and  strait  not  often  very  rough, 
so  that,  with  a  cabin — best  engaged  beforehand — there 
is  no  particular  hardship  in  getting  over  to  the  Hok- 
kaido ;  that  is  to  say,  the  North,  or,  literally,  North- 
ern Road,  as  they  call  Yczo  and  the  Kurile  Islands 
together. 


Vol.  V.- 23 


CHAPTER    XXI. 


THE   HOKKAIDO. 


Tsugaru  strait,  which  cuts  Yezo  from  the  main 
island,  is  a  deep  though  narrow  channel  into  which 
the  waters  of  the  Japan  Sea  sweep  at  the  western  end 
with  dangerous  currents.  It  is  widest  in  the  middle, 
and  narrows  sharply  at  the  two  ends,  where  the  moun- 
tains rise  like  gateways  on  either  side ;  indeed,  the 
whole  Yezo  shore  of  the  strait  is  almost  a  continuous 
wall  of  cliffs,  with  only  one  great  break  opposite  the 
mouth  of  Aomori  bay,  as  if  the  two  openings  were 
meant  to  pair  with  one  another.  Just  here  beside  the 
break  in  the  cliffs  Hakodate  Head  thrusts  out  from 
the  side  of  Hakodate  Mountain,  which  lifts  one 
thousand  one  hundred  and  fifty-seven  feet  clear  from 
the  water-line.  "  The  Peak/'  as  nearly  every  one 
calls  this  mountain,  is  almost  but  not  quite  an  island  ; 
a  sandy  strip  a  mile  or  so  long  connects  it  with  the 
shore,  which  on  the  other  side  is  quite  low  for  some 
distance,  and  leaves  room  for  several  good  farms. 
The  slope  of  the  promontory  is  wooded  half  way  up, 
and  covered  with  low  undergrowth  to  the  top ;  the 
base   is   circled  on  three  sides  by   precipitous  cliffs, 

354 


THE  HOKKAIDO.  355 

while  the  third,  lying  between  the  sand  strip  and  the 
bold  point  called  the  Head,  curves  around  in  a  shel- 
tered hollow  to  form  one  of  the  finest  harbors  in  the 
world — deep  and  roomy,  with  anchorage  for  half  a 
dozen  fleets.  The  town  curves  after,  following  the 
line  of  the  harbor,  and  spreads  out  along  the  neck  of 
sand,  and  climbs  yearly  higher  up  the  mountain  by 
steep  streets  and  terraces  ;  a  prosperous,  growing,  com- 
mercial city,  getting  small  share  of  foreign  trade,  but 
very  busy  with  the  coastwise  service.  It  has  a  charm- 
ing park  on  a  rocky  knoll  overlooking  the  bay,  and 
two  fine  reservoirs  fed  by  a  stream  far  back  on  the 
mountain,  hundreds  of  feet  above  the  town  ;  the  water 
is  distributed  by  hydrants  placed  every  few  hundred 
yards  along  the  street,  where  the  housewives  and  maid- 
servants come  to  draw,  as  elsewhere  they  come  to  the 
old  wells,  since  few  are  wealthy  enough  to  have  water 
introduced  into  their  houses.  The  waste  water  rushes 
down  the  paved  gutters  by  the  road,  much  as  it  does 
in  the  little  mountain  villages,  and  the  police  have 
some  difficulty  in  persuading  conservative  grandmas 
that  it  is  not  equally  pure  and  suitable  to  wash  their 
fish  and  vegetables  in,  as  the  good  dames  used  to  do, 
no  doubt,  before  they  migrated  from  their  hills  in  the 
south  to  this  new  region,  for  it  must  be  remembered 
that  in  Hakodate  few  save  the  young  can  be  native 
born. 

Hakodate  is   sometimes  compared  with  Gibraltar, 
but  there  is  little  real  resemblance ;    what  it  is  far 


356  JAPAN. 

more  like  is  the  bay  of  Naples  and  Vesuvius,  if  the 
crater  of  Vesuvius  were  carried  up  to  its  full  height. 
But  the  coloring  is  utterly  different ;  for  the  bare  ash 
and  lava,  there  is  fresh  green  forest,  and  instead  of 
warm  Italian  blue  in  sea  and  sky,  the  dreamy,  opal- 
escent light  of  Japan. 

The  harbor  is  thronged  at  all  times  with  fishing 
craft  and  coasting  steamers,  and  Maine  schooners,  and 
tramps  from  all  over  the  world  putting  in  here  for 
lood  and  water ;  in  summer  the  motley  crowd  often 
includes  the  warships  of  half  a  dozen  powers,  sent  up 
to  keep  watch — or,  so  they  say — over  the  sealing  and 
whaling  of  their  nationals  in  the  Smoky  Seas.  The 
cool  summer  air  is  pleasant  for  officers  and  men ;  the 
climate  of  Hakodate  is  exceedingly  like  that  of  New- 
port, E.  I.,  except  that  the  Japanese  port  gets  less  fog. 
The  British  fleet  often  winters  at  Hong  Kong,  comes 
to  Yokohama  in  the  early  summer,  and  goes  on  to 
Hakodate  for  the  hottest  months.  They  say  that 
when  the  ships  come  beer  shops  spring  up  as  if  by 
magic ;  indeed,  the  foreign  sailors  are  a  serious  draw- 
back to  residence  in  the  place.  When  some  of  these 
are  in  port  it  is  most  unpleasant — not  to  say  unsafe — 
for  ladies  to  go  down  near  the  harbor,  or,  indeed, 
toward  dusk  on  the  streets  farther  up,  where  the  prin- 
cipal shops  for  European  goods  are.  English  officers 
say  they  dread  to  bring  their  men  to  Hakodate  ;  crews 
that  have  done  well  almost  everywhere  else  seem 
nearly  sure  to  get  into  difficulties   in  the  grog-shops 


THE  HOKKAIDO.  357 

there  as  soon  as  they  have  a  chance  to  go  ashore.  For 
one  thing  they  say  these  Hakodate  sailors'  taverns 
keep  American  drinks  of  a  peculiar  vileness  and 
potency;  and  partly,  too,  the  men  have  a  sense  of 
being  almost  up  to  the  end  of  the  world. 

When  the  fleets  are  not  in  port  there  are  few  for- 
eigners about ;  only  the  Consular  people,  and  a  small 
body  of  hard-working  missionaries  of  many  denomi- 
nations. The  English  make  Hakodate  a  base  for 
their  labors  among  the  Ainu,  and  do  much  also  by 
seamen's  missions  and  the  like  for  the  shifting  sailor 
population  ;  both  the  Greek  Church  and  the  Roman 
have  long  had  stations  here,  and  up  on  the  hill  there 
is  a  large  Methodist  girls'  school,  which  is  perhaps  the 
best  institution  of  the  kind  in  Japan. 

From  every  street  in  Hakodate  the  views  are  exquis- 
itely lovely,  and  they  seem  to  grow  even  lovelier  as  you 
ascend  the  peak  behind  the  town.  It  is  a  long  climb, 
but  nowhere  steep  ;  at  first  beyond  the  houses  the  path 
leads  through  a  grass-grown  cryptomeria  forest,  where 
lilies-of-the-valley  bloom  in  spring,  and  in  summer  the 
clustering  white  wild  roses  stretch  a  bower  over  every 
sunny  bank  and  lane ;  between  the  branches  you  look 
down  on  the  gray  shingled  roofs  of  the  town,  looking 
flit  as  if  some  one  had  ironed  them,  and  the  flock  of 
white  sails  in  the  harbor,  and  across  to  the  blue  wall 
of  peaks  closing  the  horizon,  Komagatake's  keen  point 
centering  all.  To  the  left  of  the  harbor  on  the  low, 
green  headland  is  the  site  of  an  old  fort,  dismantled 


358  JAPAN. 

now,  which  played  a  serious  part  in  the  war  of  the 
Restoration,  when  Count  Kuroda  and  the  rest  stole 
away  up  here  with  the  Tokugawa  ships ;  the  fort  is  a 
public  park  now,  and  the  moats  are  used  for  skating 
— an  amusement  which  the  Japanese  have  learned 
from  America,  and  enjoy  thoroughly  when  they  have 
a  chance. 

As  might  be  expected,  fishing  remains  the  chief 
local  industry  of  Hakodate ;  it  is  a  pretty  sight  to  see 
the  fleet  of  little  boats  go  out  of  an  afternoon,  rowing 
past  the  headland  and  round  by  the  cliffs  quite  behind 
the  mountain,  till  they  lie  off  the  neck  on  its  outer 
side.  At  night,  from  the  end  of  the  town  near  the 
public  garden,  their  tiny  lights  cluster  like  a  galaxy 
of  winking  stars  in  the  dark  sea  beyond  the  blacker 
rocks.  The  fish  are  plenty  and  of  excellent  quality, 
to  judge  by  Hakodate  markets;  besides  fine  tai  and 
other  fish  met  with  in  the  south,  there  are  swordfish 
and  salmon  from  the  northern  rivers,  both  fresh  and 
dried,  and  oysters  from  Kushiro  and  Nemuro  on  the 
east  coast  of  Hokkaido,  and  plenty  of  large  scollops, 
with  delicate  white  meat  and  shells  four  or  five  inches 
across.  These  pretty,  light-brown,  ridged  shells  make 
charming  little  individual  baking  dishes ;  I  have  seen 
them  sold  on  the  street  in  Tokyo,  I  suppose  for  that 
purpose,  though  I  had  not  Japanese  enough  to  ask. 
These  hotate,  as  they  call  them,  are  very  abundant  in 
the  Hokkaido  waters,  but  do  not  seem  to  be  found 
farther  south.     Seaweed,  too,  is  a  special  "  meibutsu  " 


' 


.1 


?Y 


W 

■  V    &.1 

,       '  'iff 

■     I  I  I*' 

v     I 

; 

II 
ll 


THE  HOKKAIDO.  359 

of  Hakodate,  and  there  are  several  edible  varieties 
which  are  highly  prized  and  frequently  put  up  in  neat 
little  tins,  for  visitors  to  take  to  their  friends  at  home. 
A  great  deal  of  fish  goes  to  the  south  dried,  canned, 
smoked  and  fresh,  and  much  also  to  China,  along  with 
boatloads  of  the  large  univalve  awabi  or  sea-ear — 
beche  de  mer,  as  the  French  call  it — from  the  southern 
waters  ;  Japanese  seaweed,  too,  is  largely  exported  for 
the  Chinese. 

Formerly  the  rivers  of  Hokkaido  must  have  been 
as  full  of  salmon  as  the  Columbia  or  the  Alaskan 
waters,  but  till  lately  they  have  been  recklessly  wasted ; 
still,  they  are  very  plenty  even  now,  and  there  are 
laws  to  protect  them  in  future.  The  Japanese  cure 
salmon  with  a  great  deal  of  salt,  but  the  Ainu  method 
is  merely  to  dry  it  in  the  sun — an  arrangement  which 
makes  not  only  their  huts  but  themselves  unpleasantly 
perceptible  a  long  way  to  leeward. 

The  Ainu,  who  supply  the  folk-lore  for  the  Hok- 
kaido, have  a  legend  to  account  for  the  plentifulness 
of  fish  and  flesh  in  Ainu  land.  Once,  they  say,  long, 
long  ago,  there  was  a  dire  famine,  so  that  the  Ainu 
were  ready  to  die  of  hunger.  But  they  gathered 
together  the  crumbs  that  were  left,  a  little  millet  and 
a  little  rice  malt,  and  with  it  they  made  a  cup  of  wine, 
and  poured  it  into  six  lacquer  cups;  and  the  sweet 
smell  of  the  sake  arose  from  the  cups,  filling  all  the 
house. 

Then  the  gods  were  called  together,  the  gods  of  all 


360  JAPAX. 

places,  from  this  side  and  from  that ;  also  the  god- 
desses of  the  mountains  and  the  goddesses  of  the  val- 
leys, the  goddesses  of  the  rivers  and  the  goddesses  of 
the  mouths  of  rivers.  And  they  were  all  pleased 
with  that  delicious  wine,  and  the  goddesses  of  the 
mountains  and  the  valleys,  of  the  rivers  and  the 
mouths  of  rivers,  danced  and  sang  before  the  assembled 
gods ;  and  the  gods  laughed  and  were  glad.  Then  as 
they  danced  the  goddesses  plucked  out  two  hairs  of  a 
deer  and  blew  them  over  the  tops  of  the  mountains, 
and  on  the  tops  of  the  mountains  two  herds  of  deer 
came  running,  one  of  bucks  and  the  other  of  does; 
and  they  plucked  out  two  scales  from  a  fish  and  blew 
them  over  the  rivers,  and  in  the  rivers  shoals  of  fish 
came  swimming,  insomuch  that  there  was  not  room, 
and  they  scraped  upon  the  stones. 

So  the  men  set  their  boats  upon  the  rivers  and  took 
fish ;  and  the  young  men  went  forth  and  slew  deer 
upon  the  hills,  and  they  ate  and  did  not  die.  There- 
fore, from  that  day,  in  the  land  of  the  Ainu,  there  is 
fish  and  flesh  without  stint. 

Hakodate  people  go  for  picnics  and  other  such 
amusement  to  the  hot  springs  at  Yunokawa,  on  the 
coast  farther  to  the  east,  a  mile  or  so  beyond  the  neck 
of  sand ;  and  to  Yunozawa,  which  is  two  or  three 
miles  inland  from  the  last;  also,  a  longer  excursion, 
best  made  on  horseback  or  by  carriage,  to  a  chain  of 
lakes  which  lie  at  the  foot  of  Komagatake.  The 
ascent  of  this  volcano  can  be  made  in  a  long  day  from 


THE   HOKKAIDO.  361 

Hakodate,  but  nearly  every  one  stays  over  a  night  at 
Junsaimura,  on  the  first  lake.  Beyond  here  horses  can 
be  used  for  nearly  three-quarters  of  the  way ;  the  rest 
is  a  stiff  climb  over  sand  and  crumbling  ashes  to  the 
edge  of  the  crater.  On  the  side  of  the  cone  is  a  great 
mass  of  rock  towering  far  above  the  rest,  and  it  is 
this  which  makes  the  spear-like  point  of  Komagatake 
as  it  is  seen  from  Hakodate  and  along  the  coast.  The 
crater  is  still  but  thinly  crusted  and  treacherous,  with 
boiling  springs  and  sulphurous  smoke  breaking  out 
here  and  there,  altogether  a  risky  place.  The  great 
volcano  of  the  north  no  one  seems  to  venture  on  ;  it 
is  Mount  Ezan,  the  most  eastern  point  of  the  southern 
peninsula,  and  the  first  mountain  sighted  in  coming  up 
from  Yokohama  by  steamer — which  is  really  the  easiest, 
if  not  the  most  interesting  way. 

This  sea  route  takes  only  two  days,  with  the  call  at 
Oginohama  besides,  where  you  can  usually  go  ashore 
for  a  few  hours  while  they  load  and  unload ;  and  a 
very  pleasant  run  it  is  too,  if  you  are  so  made  as  to  be 
able  to  enjoy  a  voyage  in  a  clean  little  steamer,  rock- 
ing nicely  on  a  long  ground  swell.  They  lie  twenty- 
four  hours  at  Hakodate  to  leave  and  take  on  freight, 
and  then  run  on  through  Tsugaru  strait  and  up  the 
west  coast  of  Yezo  to  Otaru ;  while  the  Aomori  boats 
touch  at  Hakodate  for  a  few  hours  only,  and  then  turn 
out  around  Cape  Ezan  and  head  across  Volcano  bay 
to  Mororan.  For  the  present,  one  or  the  other  line 
has  to  carry  all  there  is  to  go,  for  it  will  be  a  year  or 


362  JAPAN. 

two  longer  before  Hakodate  is  connected  by  rail  with 
the  rest  of  the  world.  A  line  from  Mororan,  on  Vol- 
cano bay,  to  Sapporo  and  Otaru  was  built  long  ago,  in 
the  early  days  of  Yezo  colonization,  and  held  the 
world's  record  as  the  cheapest  line  ever  built  any- 
where ;  but  its  route  was  a  fairly  easy  one,  offering 
nothing  much  worse  to  contend  wTith  than  swamp  and 
forest  and  a  few  rivers,  whereas  the  part  of  the  island 
south  of  Volcano  bay  is  only  a  peninsula,  so  crowded 
with  rocks  and  mountains  that  it  is  much  easier  to 
take  a  boat  and  go  round  than  attempt  to  climb  over. 
However,  in  these  days  there  must  be  railroads,  and 
so,  although  the  neck  of  the  peninsula  is  the  very 
most  spinous  of  all,  a  line  is  on  the  way,  opening  up 
new  tracts  of  country  as  it  goes,  after  the  manner  of 
colonial  railroads.  One  special  reason  for  pushing 
this  one  is  that  oil  has  been  found  in  these  mountains ; 
the  extent  of  land  already  opened  for  wells  in  Hok- 
kaido exceeds  the  whole  amount  in  the  rest  of  Japan, 
which  last  is  mostly  located  in  the  mountains,  near 
Niigata,  on  the  west  coast  of  the  main  island. 

Yezo  must  have  been  separated  from  the  rest  of  the 
group  since  very  early  geological  time,  for  its  flora  and 
fauna  are  quite  distinct  from  even  the  northern  end  of 
the  main  island.  There  are  no  monkeys — which  of 
itself  would  not  be  unnatural,  Yezo  is  so  much  colder — 
and  the  bear  is  a  huge  grizzly,  while  the  proper  Japan- 
ese bear  is  small  and  black ;  there  are  grouse  instead 
of  pheasants  in  the  north,  and  a  number  of  singing 


THE  HOKKAIDO.  363 

birds  not  found  in  the  other  islands.  Elms  and  other 
northern  trees  grow  in  great  abundance  all  through  the 
Sapporo  plain,  and  elsewhere  in  the  interior,  and  the 
wild  forests  along  the  Mororan-Sapporo  railroad  might 
be  anywhere  in  central  Pennsylvania. 

According  to  the  Ainu,  the  creator  god  Aioina  did 
not  himself  make  Yezo,  but  entrusted  the  task  to  a 
god  and  goddess,  giving  him  the  south  and  east,  and 
charging  her  with  the  western  part.  So  they  both 
went  to  work  at  once,  trying  to  see  who  could  finish 
the  job  best  and  most  quickly.  But  while  they  were 
working,  another  goddess  came  along,  and  woman-like 
the  first  stopped  to  have  a  bit  of  gossip  with  her  friend. 
So  they  talked  aud  they  talked,  for  quite  a  long  time ; 
and  meanwhile  the  god  was  working  away  fast  and 
steadily.  Then  all  of  a  sudden  the  goddess  looked  up 
and  saw  that  he  had  almost  finished,  and  she  was 
frightened  and  ashamed,  and  hurried  very  fast,  piling 
up  the  rocks  and  mountains  any  way  at  all,  so  that  she 
might  get  done  in  time.  And  the  consequence  is  that 
the  west  coast  of  Yezo  is  so  wild  and  rocky  that  no 
one  can  do  anything  with  it  to  this  day.  Moreover, 
any  one  may  see  the  axe  the  god  used  in  making  his 
part,  for  he  stuck  it  up  on  the  shore  when  he  got  done 
— a  large  dark  rock,  standing  on  the  coast  near  Moro- 
ran. 

The  shape  of  Yezo  is  rather  like  a  Japanese  kite,  its 
head  pointing  to  the  northeast,  and  the  part  below 
Volcano  bay  serving  for  a  short,  bent  tail.     Not  only 


364  JAPAN. 

this  southern  peninsula,  but  the  main  part  of  the  island, 
is  more  than  half  mountainous,  and  far  the  larger  por- 
tion of  it  is  still  covered  with  forests,  through  which 
the  roads  are  few  and,  as  a  rule,  anything  but  good. 
The  government  has  made  considerable  surveys,  how- 
ever, and  the  character  and  resources  of  the  region  are 
fairly  well  mapped  down.  Coal  and  coal  oil  and  sul- 
phur are  the  chief  mineral  products,  a  very  large  part 
of  the  sulphur  produced  in  Japan — and  it  is  a  great 
deal — coming  from  Yezo  and  the  Kuriles.  The  Rus- 
sians destroyed  most  of  the  fur-bearing  animals  on  the 
Kurile  group,  before  they  consented  to  give  up  their 
unproved  claim  on  the  islands  in  return  for  the  far 
more  valuable  cession  of  southern  Saghalien.  The 
sulphur  on  Kunashiri  and  Iterup  is  the  one  useful 
product  to  be  had  there  now. 

The  single  plain  of  Yezo  is  a  wide  level,  seventy 
miles  long  and  some  twenty  to  thirty  across,  running 
from  Volcano  bay  nearly  north  to  the  sea  of  Japan. 
It  must  have  been  at  one  time  a  part  of  the  bay,  and 
probably  not  so  very  long  ago  either,  as  geology  counts 
time,  since  the  Sapporo  botanists  say  that  certain 
purely  beach  plants  still  linger  on  its  border  hills. 
The  Ainu  called  this  region  Satsuporo  (the  dry  plain), 
in  distinction  to  the  vast  stretches  of  peat  bog  and  mo- 
rass near  the  lower  part  of  the  Ishikari  and  other 
rivers ;  and  the  Japanese  Colonial  Department  kept 
the  name,  when  they  chose  the  upper  end  of  the  plain 
and  placed  there  the  new  capital,  Sapporo.     The  other 


THE   HOKKAIDO.  3(35 

towns  of  the  Hokkaido,  like  Topsy,  "just  growed," 
and  they  are  all  on  the  sea — Hakodate,  Otaru,  twenty 
miles  north  of  Sapporo,  and  Kushiro  and  Nemuro,  on 
the  dreary  east  coast,  ice  bound  all  winter  and  fog  hung 
the  rest  of  the  year.  With  some  government  help  in 
the  way  of  harbor  improvement,  these  self-made  towns 
have  thriven  finely ;  it  was  only  official,  made-to-order 
Sapporo  that  had  rather  a  hard  time  to  get  started ;  as 
for  Otaru,  shipments  of  coal  and  herring-oil  and  fish 
guano  have  made  it  boom  at  times  like  any  American 
town  in  the  wild  West,  speculation  in  building  lots 
and  all. 

It  is  really  almost  more  American  than  Japanese, 
this  lively,  new  Hokkaido,  which,  only  thirty  years 
ago,  was  altogether  virgin  forest,  given  over  to  bears 
and  Ainu.  There  was  a  Daimyo,  it  is  true,  and  had 
been  since  the  sixteenth  century,  whose  revenues  came 
from  fishing  dues,  and  whose  castle  and  single  town 
of  any  size  was  Matsumae — now  renamed  Fukuyama 
— at  the  west  end  of  Tsugaru  strait.  Hakodate  was 
only  a  little  bigger  and  better  than  the  other  wretched 
fishing  hamlets  fringing  the  coast,  which  were  hardly 
inhabited,  except  in  summer,  when  fishermen  came  up 
from  the  main  island  for  the  season.  On  the  main 
island  people  would  believe  anything  about  Yezo; 
they  were  quite  sure  that  in  winter  fire  froze  and 
turned  into  coral ;  and  certainly  nobody  would  go 
there  who  could  help  it.  But  when  the  West  was  dis- 
covered  and    American    vessels    began    to    sail    the 


366  JAPAN. 

north  Pacific,  Hakodate  was  the  safest  and  most 
convenient  place  for  the  sealers  and  whalers,  and 
consequently  it  was  one  of  the  first  ports  asked  for, 
opened,  and  provided  with  consuls  of  the  various 
nationalities. 

Still,  this  coming  of  a  few  foreigners  did  not  affect 
Japanese  interests  much.  The  real  opening  of  the 
Hokkaido  was  begun  in  1868,  and  it  was  the  work  of 
the  unsubmissive  Tokugawa  clansmen.  When  Yedo 
was  given  up  to  the  Imperialists,  the  ex-Shogun's 
ships  were  to  have  been  given  up  likewise,  as  part 
payment  for  sparing  the  city ;  but,  instead  of  fulfill- 
ing this  part  of  the  contract,  the  naval  commander 
and  some  of  the  followers  of  Tokugawa  took  it  upon 
themselves  to  slip  off  with  the  whole  fleet,  which  con- 
sisted of  some  five  vessels.  They  sailed  north  and 
waited  about  Sendai,  hoping  to  be  able  to  help  the 
land  force  who  were  at  Utsunomiya  and  Aidzu ; 
but,  after  the  fall  of  Wakamatsu  Castle,  they  were 
joined  by  the  chief  rebel  general,  Otori,  and  went  on 
to  Yezo,  taking  possession  of  Hakodate  and  Matsu- 
mae.  The  governor,  seeing  himself  unable  to  resist, 
departed  to  Aomori  and  sent  a  complaint  to  the  impe- 
rial government ;  and  there  was  another  brave  but 
hopeless  struggle  to  be  gone  through  before  the 
leaders,  Enomoto  and  Kuroda,  found  themselves 
totally  overmatched,  and  gave  themselves  up  to  save 
their  followers.  And  again,  as  after  the  fall  of 
Wakamatsu  Castle,  the  Emperor  was  "  as  a  father  * 


THE  HOKKAIDO.  367 

to  his  misguided  children,  whose  sin,  after  all,  was  only 
loyalty  misplaced. 

It  is  worth  while  to  look  a  little  into  the  meaning 
of  this  raid  on  the  north,  for,  in  a  way,  it  gave  not 
only  the  first  impetus,  but  set  the  keynote  of  Yezo 
colonization.  This  is  what  the  leaders  said  for  them- 
selves, as  Black  translates  their  memorial  to  the 
Emperor.  After  speaking  of  the  changes  that  had 
taken  place,  the  Tokugawa  revenues  cut  off  and  the 
retainers  turned  adrift,  they  plead  :  "  Men  who  have 
the  hearts  of  Samurai  cannot  turn  into  farmers  or 
merchants,  so  that  it  appeared  that  there  was  nothing 
for  us  but  to  starve.  But,  considering  the  unculti- 
vated condition  of  the  island  of  Yezo,  we  thought  it 
better  to  remove  thither,  that,  even  under  the  endur- 
ance of  every  hardship,  we  might  level  steep  moun- 
tains, cultivate  the  desert,  and  employ  hitherto  useless 
people  in  a  useful  work."  For  this  privilege,  they 
say,  they  petitioned  the  government  in  vain,  and  "  it 
seemed  that  the  three  hundred  thousand  clansmen 
must  surely  starve ; "  so,  in  despair,  they  had  sailed 
on  their  own  risk,  using  force  only  against  Hakodate 
and  Matsumae — both  fortified  places.  "On  applica- 
tion to  the  governor  of  Hakodate,  he  would  not  listen 
to  us,  but  viewing  us  merely  as  a  band  of  robbers, 
attacked  us.  Matsumae  also  murdered  our  messenger, 
and  for  these  reasons  we  were  obliged  to  set  aside 
these  men.  The  farmers  and  merchants  are  unmo- 
lested, going  about  their   business   without  fear,  and 


368  JAPAN. 

sympathizing  with  us,  so  that  already  we  have  been 
able  to  bring  some  land  under  cultivation." 

"  To  employ  useless  people  in  a  useful  work  " — 
there  spoke  the  true  Samurai  spirit ;  the  spirit  of  the 
man  who  must  have  service — and  that  a  worthy  ser- 
vice— or  extinction.  There  is  an  amusingly  familiar 
note  in  the  guileless  protest  of  these  land-grabbers 
against  being  regarded  as  robbers  ;  but  there  can  be 
no  question  that  they  were  absolutely  sincere,  as  well 
as  terribly  in  earnest,  even  though  there  was  another 
motive  underlying  all,  and  quite  frankly  avowed.  "  We 
pray  that  this  portion  of  the  empire  may  be  conferred 
upon  our  late  lord,  Tokugawa  Kamenosuke ;  and  in 
that  case  we  shall  repay  your  beneficence  by  our  faith- 
ful guardianship  of  the  Northern  Gate." 

That  was  their  dream — a  vision  of  repeating  his- 
tory, and  winning  for  Tokugawa  a  new  province,  even 
as  Yoritomo  won  the  Kwanto  from  the  wilderness 
seven  centuries  before ;  a  province  which  their  master 
should  rule  for  the  Emperor  in  all  loyalty,  that  so 
the  clan  should  be,  as  they  say,  once  more  the  keep- 
ers of  the  Northern  Gate.  That  was  their  hope; 
and  some  say  that  if  they  had  chosen  Mororan  and 
fortified  it,  instead  of  Hakodate,  they  might  have 
held  it  against  all  the  forces  of  the  empire. 

They  did  not  so  choose,  and  in  spite  of  the  openly- 
expressed  sympathy  of  the  foreign  consuls,  the  "Three 
Days'  Republic"  failed.  But  there  was  no  harsh 
treatment ;    rather    the   government    sought   to   give 


THE  HOKKAIDO.  369 

them  opportunity  to  repent.  The  newly-appointed 
head  of  the  Tokugawa  clan  was  ordered  to  go  to  the 
Hokkaido  and  restrain  his  clansmen ;  the  Tokugawa 
asked  that,  as  this  new  head  was  only  a  child,  the  ex- 
Shogun  might  be  allowed  to  lead  them.  But  this  was 
refused,  for  fear  that  he  might  be  forcibly  taken  over 
to  the  rebels,  and  so  used  to  encourage  others  and  pro- 
long the  struggle.  After  many  delays,  the  chastising 
force  reached  Hakodate,  landed  on  the  steep  cliffs 
behind  the  promontory,  and  marched  over  the  moun- 
tain to  a  point  from  which  they  could  command  the 
entire  fort,  rendering  resistance  hopeless. 

The  leaders  yielded,  and  were  punished  for  a  time, 
but  presently  Count  Kuroda  wras  back  in  the  Hok- 
kaido again — this  time  as  an  accredited  government 
official,  the  head  of  the  newly-organized  Colonization 
Office.  This  office  —  literally,  department  for  the 
development  of  the  country  —  was  intended  to  do 
precisely  what  the  runaway  generals  had  intended, 
minus  the  individual  clan  bias ;  and  its  hope  was  the 
same — namely,  to  provide  for  masterless  Samurai.  It 
was  the  day  of  great  things,  of  wild  endeavors  to 
make  Japan  over  in  a  night,  and  of  foreign  experts 
imported  to  do  it  at  any  price.  So  Geueral  Horace 
Capron  was  sent  for,  "to  introduce  the  American 
system  of  agriculture  into  Japan  " — which  meant  to 
be  the  actual  head  and  organizer  of  a  department 
with  many  branches,  including  stock  raising  and 
forestry,  surveys  of  every  sort,  even  engineering  and 
Vol.  I.— 24 


370  JAPAN. 

road  building;  to  establish  agricultural  schools  and 
experiment  farms,  and  to  start  new  things  generally. 
Of  all  the  innovations,  the  Hokkaido,  being  itself 
new  and  unprejudiced,  naturally  came  in  for  the 
largest  share ;  and  moreover,  being  most  like  America 
in  climate,  took  most  kindly  to  American  ways. 

All  this  was  begun  in  1873.  At  first  the  results 
lagged  far  behind  the  lavish  expenditure  ;  indigent 
Samurai  did  not  appear  in  flocks,  perhaps  because 
they  were  too  busy  getting  educated  in  the  new  gov- 
ernment schools  to  prepare  for  government  offices,  or 
studying  abroad  on  government  scholarships.  More- 
over, such  expenditure  could  not  possibly  be  kept  up ; 
the  "American  plan"  wTas  far  too  magnificent  for 
Japan.  Still,  the  thing  Avas  started,  and  the  discovery 
of  large  fields  of  bituminous  coal  of  an  excellent 
quality,  not  more  than  twenty  or  thirty  miles  from 
Sapporo,  made  the  future  of  the  Hokkaido  sure,  if 
slow.  In  a  few  years  public-spirited  men  who  were 
fortunate  enough  to  have  a  little  means  began  to  plant 
colonies  of  their  dependents,  many  a  gentleman  going 
with  his  band,  living  with  them  as  they  lived,  and 
working  with  them  at  clearing  and  draining  the  forest. 
It  is  not  easy  work ;  the  land  which  is  often  best 
when  put  in  order  is  swampy,  as  well  as  heavily 
wooded,  and  until  it  has  been  brought  under  cultiva- 
tion for  a  year  or  two  the  settlers  are  sure  to  have 
malaria — genuine  chills  and  fever  —  a  thing  hardly 
known  to  exist  in  Japan  proper.      The  cold,  too,  is 


THE  HOKKAIDO.  371 

terrible  to  people  from  the  south,  for  Yezo  lies  in  the 
latitude  of  Maine,  and  except  on  the  lower  coast  gets 
very  little  effect  from  the  warm  ocean  currents  ;  and 
the  rough,  poor  little  houses  of  the  colonists  are  quite 
unfit  to  keep  out  such  winters.  Yet  the  settlers  thrive. 
By  1895  they  were  coming  at  the  rate  of  forty  and 
fifty  thousand  a  year.  The  government  grants  about 
twelve  and  a  half  acres  as  homestead  to  any  one  who 
will  take  it  up  and  develop  it,  putting  a  certain 
specified  amount  of  improvement  on  it  each  year  for 
a  fixed  term.  There  are  already  manufactures,  par- 
ticularly iron  nails,  bricks  and  linen,  and  the  fisheries 
are  being  developed  astonishingly.  All  around  Otaru, 
and  along  the  railroad  from  there  to  the  point  where 
it  turns  off  inland  to  Sapporo,  fish  and  fishing  are 
very  much  in  evidence,  some  being  dried  on  frames, 
more,  in  the  herring  season,  boiled  down  to  make  fish 
oil.  On  the  beach,  near  every  little  village,  you  see 
large  iron  pots,  sometimes  propped  on  stones,  some- 
times set  in  a  hole  like  a  primitive  oven.  Here  they 
boil  the  fish  and  skim  off  the  oil,  drying  the  refuse 
and  pressing  it  into  cakes  to  be  shipped  for  manure. 
These  little  villages  on  the  Japan  Sea  are  small  and 
squalid,  and  the  people  have  an  air  of  untidiness  and 
poverty ;  in  fact,  this  fishing  population  is  the  poorest 
element  in  the  Hokkaido. 

There  are  not  very  many  Ainu  around  Sapporo, 
except  what  some  one  called  "  tinned ''  ones,  at  Mr. 
Batchelor's  excellent  "  Rest  House,"  as  he  calls  the 


372  JAPAN. 

little  hospital  he  has  built  for  them  in  his  own  gar- 
den. Occasionally  a  few  of  them  wander  into  Sap- 
poro to  sell  skins  or  carved  trays  and  bark  dippers, 
but  as  a  general  thing  they  stay  apart  in  their  own  vil- 
lages, which  lie  along  the  wilder  streams  and  remote 
places  on  the  coast.  Professor  Todd's  astronomical 
party  were  quite  among  them  in  1896,  at  Esashi  on 
the  north  coast,  and  Mrs.  Todd  was  able  to  make  some 
interesting  investigations.  The  most  accessible  vil- 
lages are  on  the  shore  of  Volcano  bay,  and  their  straw 
huts,  thatched  all  over,  are  easily  visible  from  the  train 
at  Horibetsu  and  Noboribetsu  stations,  and  at  one  or 
two  other  places.  But  of  these  strange  people  more 
hereafter. 

Perhaps  it  is  because  only  the  pluckiest  and  hardiest 
Japanese  go  to  the  north,  and  also  the  most  lawless ; 
perhaps  the  sharper  climate  braces  both  body  and 
mind ;  whatever  the  reason,  the  people  of  the  Hok- 
kaido are  both  the  best  and  the  worst  in  Japan.  The 
worst — let  us  hope — are  survivals  of  the  time  when 
it  was  the  custom  to  release  prisoners  at  the  end  of 
their  term — the  long-sentence  prisons,  by  the  way, 
are  all  in  the  Hokkaido — and  pay  no  further  heed  to 
them  ;  the  times  when  settlers  feared  two  things,  bears 
and  "  red  men,"  as  they  call  convicts,  because  of  their 
brick-colored  prison  clothes.  Now  that  is  all  past; 
the  prisoners  are  returned  to  their  own  provinces  and 
released  there ;  and  bears,  too,  are  scarce,  and  seldom 
attack  houses,  as  one  great  grizzly  actually  did   in 


THE  HOKKAIDO.  373 

Sapporo  in  the  early  days,  devouring  a  woman  and  a 
baby  before  he  was  hunted  down  and  killed.  He  is 
stuffed  in  the  Sapporo  Museum  now,  along  with  other 
Hokkaido  beasts  and  birds — which,  as  I  have  before 
said,  are  strikingly  different  from  the  rest  of  Japan — 
among  Ainu  mats  and  carvings,  and  relics  of  the  war 
of  1895,  such  as  Chinese  swords  and  spears  and 
curious  old  firearms,  brought  home  by  the  northern 
troops.  Some  of  these  troops  came  from  the  Tonden 
or  military  colony  which  is  being  carried  on  as  an 
experiment  on  a  fine  piece  of  land  some  miles  from 
Sapporo ;  and  they  made  a  good  name  for  themselves 
both  for  bravery  and  physical  condition. 

For  the  best  element  in  the  Hokkaido,  go  not  to 
lively,  bustling  Otaru,  with  its  ill-kept  streets  and 
hastily-built  houses,  its  pushing  business  men  and 
rough  clock  hands,  but  to  quiet  Sapporo  and  the  Im- 
perial College  of  Agriculture,  now  nearing  its  hope  of 
being  promoted  into  a  university.  The  place  has  a 
very  attractive  situation  in  the  midst  of  the  open 
plain,  with  the  stony  Toyohira  flowing  by,  and  moun- 
tains all  about  it,  near  or  far.  A  few  of  the  beautiful 
old  elms  are  still  standing  in  the  town,  but  most  of 
them,  unhappily,  were  cut  down  through  a  mistaken 
order  when  it  was  first  laid  out.  Workmen  had  1><(  n 
sent  ahead  to  begin  clearing  the  land,  and  when  the 
higher  officials  arrived  they  found  wholesale  destruc- 
tion of  the  trees,  which  had  covered  all  the  site  of  the 
new  city.     Maple  and  other  quick-growing  trees  have 


374  JAPAN. 

been  planted,  and  the  place  begins  to  be  well  shaded 
in  many  parts,  but  it  seems  difficult  to  make  the  elms 
grow  again ;  probably  they  get  too  much  sun  in  the 
open  places.  As  for  the  town  itself,  it  looks  far  more 
like  a  bit  of  New  England  than  any  part  of  Japan ; 
the  shingled  houses,  their  roofs  less  projecting  and 
steeper  pitched  to  shed  the  snow,  the  wide  streets  and 
the  frequency  of  glazed  windows,  instead  of  shoji  and 
amado,  the  elms  and  maples  and  paling-fenced  gardens, 
where  the  flowers  grow  somewhat  recklessly  as  com- 
pared to  the  neat  south — all  this  goes  to  make  nearly 
every  American  exclaim  as  soon  as  he  is  set  down  in 
Sapporo,  "  This  is  like  home ;  it  looks  just  like  my 
own  State ! " 

All  around  the  city  hay  fields  and  grain  fields  stretch 
away  across  the  plain  and  to  wooded  Maruyama,  five 
miles  oif,  where  snow  lies  in  the  hollows  till  far  into 
May.  There  is  a  great  deal  of  flax  too,  which  goes  to 
supply  the  large  linen  mill  in  the  town,  and  acres  of 
beets  for  sugar  ;  a  little  rice — not  much  ;  rice  does  not 
love  the  far  north — and  out  toward  Maruyama  a  few 
plantations  of  mulberry  trees.  In  the  gardens,  instead 
of  flowering  cherry  or  plum,  you  will  find  American 
fruit  trees — apple,  pear,  quince,  and  dark  red  or  ox- 
heart  cherries,  worthy  of  the  best  New  York  orchards ; 
not  peaches — it  is  too  cold  for  them  where  strawberries 
only  ripen  in  time  for  college  commencement  parties, 
almost  on  the  fourth  of  July.  The  original  foreign 
professors  were  all  New  England  men,  and  they  have 


THE  HOKKAIDO.  375 

left  their  mark  on  the  college  and  the  town  in  many 
little  habits  and  traditions.  The  very  gardens  bloom 
with  sweet  peas  and  nasturtiums  and  phlox,  and  have 
none  of  the  formal  stone  setting  of  the  real  Japan 
— at  least  in  most  places.  Some  beautiful  little  speci- 
mens of  conventional  Japanese  gardening  there  are, 
after  all,  even  in  unconventional,  independent  Sapporo. 
The  centre  of  the  town  is  occupied  by  the  large  brick 
government  building,  known  as  the  Do  Cho,  or  district 
office ;  here  the  affairs  of  the  entire  Hokkaido  are  at- 
tended to,  including  the  allotment  of  land  to  new  set- 
tlers, who  sometimes  come  and  wait  a  good  while  in 
the  town  before  they  get  just  what  they  desire.  The 
building  stands  in  an  open  space  and  has  a  fine  air  of 
dignity  and  simplicity.  The  other  important  govern- 
ment building  is  one  which  was  put  up  to  accommo- 
date the  Emperor,  when  he  made  a  visit  here  in  the 
course  of  his  long  journey  all  through  the  empire ;  it 
is  in  charge  of  the  imperial  household  department,  and 
is  used  as  a  hotel  in  foreign  style.  Only  the  four 
lower  rooms  are  rented,  unless  by  special  permission 
from  the  officials.  It  is  a  big,  barn-like  sort  of  a  place, 
with  immensely  high  ceilings  and  huge  windows.  The 
lawn,  though,  is  charming  —  a  delightful  stretch  of 
grass,  something  rare  enough  to  be  prized  in  Japan, 
with  a  bit  of  a  Japanese  lakelet  and  some  trees  and 
shrubbery  in  the  midst.  The  Do  Cho,  too,  has  pretty 
grounds,  and  especially  a  fine  lotus  pond,  where 
they  grow  flowers  as  large  and  fine  as  at  Kamakura 


376  JAPAN. 

itself,  in  spite  of  a  foot  or  two  of  ice  on  the  pond  all 
winter. 

There  is  something  pitiful,  though,  about  a  southern 
people  who  are  trying  to  live  in  the  north ;  as  they 
trudge  through  February  snows  that  hide  the  fence- 
posts,  no  one  can  help  remembering  that  there  is  scent 
of  plum-blossoms  about  his  old  home.  One  April,  in 
Hakodate,  some  enterprising  or  over-homesick  person 
got  up  a  cherry-viewing,  by  taking  a  quantity  of  paper 
flowers,  and  arranging  them  in  pots  and  on  stands 
really  very  beautifully  ;  and  a  number  of  people  came 
and  walked  about  and  tried  to  admire  and  think  they 
were  enjoying  themselves.  Absurdly  childish,  of 
course  ;  but  there  was  something  very  pathetic  about 
it,  too.  And  you  cannot  help  feeling  the  same  home- 
sick effort  in  the  Sapporo  crowds  who  go  to  the  gardens 
there  and  look  at  fine  lilies  and  roses  and  European 
annuals,  very  beautiful  in  themselves,  but  without  a 
particle  of  association  for  a  Japanese.  The  children 
growing  up  there  will  love  the  north,  but  the  older 
ones  must  feel  themselves  exiles,  however  loyal  to  its 
interests.  Just  outside  of  Sapporo  lies  the  experiment 
farm,  connected  with  the  college,  where  students  taking 
the  practical  course  study  American  cattle  and  Ameri- 
can methods  of  farming  generally.  The  stock  farm 
proper,  though,  is  not  here,  but  away  back  in  the  coun- 
try on  other  government  land.  In  the  prettiest  meadow 
of  all,  among  beautiful  old  elm  trees,  the  new  college 
buildings  are  going  up  ;  they  have  been  long  and  sadly 


THE  HOKKAIDO.  377 

needed,  and  heartily  deserved,  for  if  ever  an  institu- 
tion made  the  most  of  the  scantiest  resources,  that  one 
is  the  Sapporo  No-Gakko.  We  who  love  the  North 
like  to  think  that  this  is  the  "  Hokkaido  Spirit  "—the 
spirit  of  development,  of  service  under  whatever  diffi- 
culties ;  to  think  that  it  is  the  old  "  Yamato  Dama- 
shii,"  the  spirit  of  Japan,  translated  into  modern,  yes, 
and  Christian  life — and  a  legacy,  too,  of  Enomoto  and 
Kuroda's  brave  failure. 


RARE  BOOK 
COLLECTION 


THE  LIBRARY  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA 

AT 

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Travel 

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